Carolina aims to win second straight against Tigers
South Carolina’s women’s basketball team welcomes five new players — including four freshmen — to its ranks this season, but when it travels to Clemson tonight, it will be the more experienced team.
With two wins under its belt to begin the season, USC looks to extend its win streak behind a strong performance from its post players, who paved the way for a 60-53 win over Alabama A&M Monday.
“It’s going to be a good game,” said coach Dawn Staley. “I think we are a little more seasoned than they are. We’re bringing more upperclassmen back, but it’s a rivalry, so anything can happen. We certainly want to bottle up what we took against Illinois to Clemson, and hopefully I won’t have as many gray hairs as I did [against Alabama A&M].”
The Tigers’ roster includes six freshmen and just five returning players, but the freshmen have played a large part in the team’s two wins to open the season. Freshman Nikki Dixon leads Clemson in scoring with an average of 16 points per game, while fellow freshman Natiece Ford leads the team with 6.5 rebounds per game.
For the Gamecocks, freshman Aleighsa Welch has established herself as an impressive post player off the bench. She finished Monday’s game just shy of a double-double with 12 points and nine rebounds. Welch is looking forward to her first game against the archrival Tigers.
“It’s my first time playing in a rivalry like this, being a freshman and all that,” Welch said. “With the hype of the game, I’m excited about it, but I just want to beat them.”
Clemson rides a wave of momentum into tonight’s contest after demolishing SC State 83-38 on Monday. The matchup against USC is a historic occasion for the Tigers because it marks the 500th home game in program history.
The Gamecocks will focus on driving to the basket against the Tigers after settling for too many outside shots early in the game against Alabama A&M. Welch and junior Ashley Bruner, who scored 15 points, led USC’s effort to drive to the basket in the second half.
“If the shot’s there and you’re wide open, go ahead and take it,” Staley said after Monday’s game. “But at some point, when you’re not making those open shots, you have to do the alternative, which is get to the basket, and we didn’t do that enough [Monday]. That’s something that we constantly battled with last year and something that has reared its ugly head again this year. We’ll rectify it.”
USC defeated Clemson 73-59 at Colonial Life Arena last season, but its last trip to Littlejohn Coliseum resulted in a heartbreaking loss.
“The last time we went there, we lost in double overtime and I fouled out,” Bruner said. “We have to redeem ourselves at their home.”