Gamecocks look to ascend in SEC standings against Wildcats
South Carolina didn’t have to wait long to taste the intensity of SEC play.
Opening their conference schedule last weekend with a pair of road matches, the Gamecocks (7-4, 1-1) found themselves immersed in a pair of double overtime thrillers, posting a 2-1 victory over Tennessee before falling 2-1 against Georgia. They’ll look to build on that experience this week when they host Kentucky (8-2, 1-1) Friday and Vanderbilt (6-4, 0-2) Sunday.
Although it wasn’t able to escape the weekend unscathed, coach Shelley Smith said she was pleased with the team’s level of play against a pair of quality opponents.
“To start SEC play on the road and get a win like we did against a very strong Tennessee team, I was very happy with our performance,” Smith said. “The result against Georgia was disappointing, but overall, our effort throughout the weekend was tremendous. If we continue to put things together the way we did against those two teams, we’re going to have some good results.”
Kayla Grimsley continued to add highlights to her resume this weekend, securing her place as USC’s all-time assists leader and becoming the second Gamecock ever to reach 100 career points. The senior enters Friday’s match against UK leading the team with five goals and 12 points on the season, creating a presence that Smith believes goes beyond statistics.
“She’s a playmaker, the one that teams worry about,” Smith said. “If it’s not her going to goal, she’s going to set someone else up. She’s a major factor in our offensive play and continues to improve even as a senior. She’s learning different ways to get free and available, even with teams targeting her.”
Grimsley matched the program’s assists record two weeks earlier against UNC Wilmington, then ascended to the top of the list with assist No. 25 on Kortney Rhoades’ game-winner against the Lady Volunteers. Smith said this ability to create plays for the rest of the offense has provided an important dimension to Grimsley’s game.
“She’s always been very capable,” Smith said. “She enjoys setting up others. She continues to draw attention to herself, opening up others in the offensive third. She does a great job under pressure finding the open players, and that’s why she has the assists.”
The weekend provided an eye-opening experience for six of USC’s true freshmen. Faced with a pair of matches that surpassed 105 minutes in their SEC debuts, four of the newcomers found themselves in the starting lineup at some point while Ariane Lukens and Sabrina D’Angelo managed to post assists.
“We talked to them about how their intensity had to go up a notch once we got into conference play and about how we needed to put everything we’d learned from non-conference play together,” Smith said. “A lot of freshmen got a lot of playing time, and that was good experience for an opening weekend. Hopefully they’ll continue to get better.”
Lukens continued to work her way into USC’s gameplan after missing the majority of preseason practice with a concussion. Earning her third start of the season in the match at Tennessee, the Colorado native proceeded to play 72 minutes in the 2-1 win and added 54 against Georgia to go along with her first collegiate assist.
“Ariane is a quality player,” Smith said. “She missed a lot of the preparation going into the season because of that injury and didn’t have the training and experience the other freshmen had. Now that she’s gotten some more time and has been healthy, she’s shown what she can do and has really been a big lift for us in the midfield.”