The Daily Gamecock

Gamecocks back at home to take on Arkansas

The No. 9/7 South Carolina women's basketball team are headed back to Colonial Life with two road wins under their belt for a Thursday night battle against Arkansas. 

The Gamecocks are coming off of a tough stretch, as they battled through multiple injuries that left the team shorthanded. Star forward A'ja Wilson missed two games due to an ankle sprain but made her return on Sunday in the win against Kentucky. Clearly she was back to herself, as she led the Gamecocks in points, rebounds, steals and blocks. 

Although there are still a few players not back to 100 percent, having Wilson back in the lineup is huge for South Carolina. She is continuing to make her mark on the program and will be honored before Thursday's game with a ball for notching her two thousandth career point. 

The Gamecocks will be without redshirt senior guard Lindsey Spann and sophomore forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan for the contest. Although South Carolina caught the injury bug, the team has found ways to win and head coach Dawn Staley appreciates how her team handled the situation. 

"It's part of the game. I think you just have to prep the other players and not to get them to do what you're missing, but just to do what they can do — play to their strengths," Staley said. "I think we're a team in which we handle adversity fairly well and we don't dwell on it, we just go with the players that we have healthy."

Arkansas has struggled in conference play this year, sitting at 2-5 in the SEC so far. They've lost their past two games to Florida and No. 11 Missouri. They have also sustained multiple injuries. This matchup will be a battle of which team can overcome their injuries more. 

Although Arkansas leads the all-time series 17-16, the last four meetings at Colonial Life Arena came up in the Gamecocks' favor. Arkansas' last win in Columbia came in 2010 with a close score of 72-68. The Gamecocks will look to continue this trend and tie up the overall series.


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