The regular season is over and the SEC tournament is now underway with the No. 1 team in the conference, South Carolina (27-2, 15-1), getting ready to play its first game in Little Rock against Arkansas on Friday.
The Gamecocks had a bye through the first two rounds of the tournament, while Arkansas won 72-61 against Ole Miss on Thursday.
After a tough 67-56 loss against Kentucky ended their chances at an undefeated conference record, the now-No. 3 Gamecocks look to bounce back from the tough defeat.
Committing 20 turnovers and shooting 32.3 percent from the field, South Carolina will need to get back its usual self on offense in order to handle the challenges ahead, according to head coach Dawn Staley.
“I think it was just us ... how we approached the game and the energy that we did not put into the game,” Staley said. “Obviously you got to bring it every time you step on the floor, especially on the road. We punished ourselves with how we performed.”
Gamecock senior forward Aleighsa Welch finished with just seven points and two rebounds in the Kentucky game while battling a stomach flu. She hopes that her team will “self-reflect” on their mistakes in order to move forward and perform well this weekend in the SEC tournament.
“[The Kentucky loss] was a tough one to swallow just because in no way, shape or form did we play our game, or how we wanted to play,” Welch said.
Now with Arkansas defeating Ole Miss, the Gamecocks can focus on the Razorbacks. Staley’s team knocked off Arkansas just over two weeks ago in Fayetteville, winning 73-56.
Coached by first-year head coach Jimmy Dykes, the Razorbacks are on the bubble to make the NCAA tournament, and a win or even a good showing against South Carolina could secure them a spot in the big dance.
In the Gamecocks’ win against Arkansas in February, four different Gamecocks scored in double-digits with junior guard Tiffany Mitchell leading the way with 15 points. As a team, South Carolina shot 52.1 percent and made 80 percent of its free throws against the Razorbacks.
In its most recent game against Ole Miss, Arkansas used a second-half run to get past the Rebels with sophomore forward Jessica Jackson, the Razorbacks’ leading scorer on the season, having a 25-point day.
One day after the conclusion of the regular-season, the SEC announced its end of the year awards and South Carolina took home several honors.
Staley was honored as the co-Coach of the Year along with Mississippi State’s head coach Vic Schaefer.
Despite the honor, Staley did not want to focus on her award, saying she liked winning championships more and while these individual awards do in fact make the program look good, they only benefit one individual instead of the entire team.
Welch was named the program’s first Scholar-Athlete of the Year, while sophomore center Alaina Coates earned spots on both the All-SEC Second Team and All-Defensive Team.
Freshman guard/forward A’ja Wilson gained the title of Freshman of the Year and joined Mitchell on the All-SEC First Team.
Mitchell also earned the SEC Player of the Year award for the second straight season and is just the sixth player to win back-to-back awards for player of the year.
With this being the last go-around for Welch, she expects nothing less than the best from her teammates.
“The mindset going into the tournament is don’t leave anything on the court because ... we only really, truthfully have two more guaranteed games,” Welch said. “That’s the first game in the tournament and the first game in the NCAA tournament, and we want to make sure we can keep playing as long as possible.”
As the Gamecocks begin the postseason against Arkansas and move closer to the NCAA tournament, South Carolina now has a chance to carry its regular season success into March, when it matters the most.
“If we take care of what we need to, you know, as far as bringing the energy, playing like we played all season long — that will take care of stuff,” Staley said.