Women’s basketball plays Elon in opener Friday
New players on the women’s basketball team are wasting no time in making their presence felt.
The team’s four freshmen and junior transfer Wilka Montout combined for 44 points in USC’s 88-31 win over Anderson. They also helped the Gamecocks dominate in other aspects of Sunday’s exhibition game, particularly rebounding.
But with so many newcomers on the roster, USC will rely on senior Ieasia Walker to set the tone as it prepares to open the regular season at home against Elon on Friday.
“[Walker] brings the experience factor,” said sophomore forward Aleighsa Welch. “When you look at our team, the thing many people point at is youth. But we have experience and a great leader in [Walker]. She’s been here. She’s been through it all.”
Walker was named to the second team All-SEC as a junior and as a sophomore. She led the Gamecocks in assists and steals last season.
On Sunday, Walker had six points and one rebound in 19 minutes of play. She split time at point guard with freshman Khadijah Sessions, who put together an impressive stat line in her USC debut.
Sessions had 11 points and five assists off the bench for the Gamecocks, but her biggest contribution may have been on defense, where she added six steals. Despite that performance, coach Dawn Staley said the freshman is not challenging Walker for a starting spot.
“It’s Ieasia’s job,” Staley said. “She’s done it year in and year out for us. She’s the one that I picked to run our show. At times, Khadijah will play the one and we’ll move Ieasia to the two when we need a little more scoring from her.”
With only 10 healthy players on the roster, Staley and the players emphasized that both starters and substitutes will have to find a way to contribute for the team to succeed. The thin numbers are due in part to the absence of sophomore guard Tina Roy, who had surgery in August to repair an ACL injury in her right knee. It is not clear if she will rejoin the team this season.
“With Tina hurt, and with us only having 10 bodies, it just means everyone has to do something a little bit better,” Welch said. “And that’s not necessarily scoring. That could be rebounding ... that could be playing defense.
“If everyone can just step up in one way or another, that will make up for the thin numbers that we have.”
Staley said that although some coaches only rotate eight players, she was confident that every member of USC’s squad will see playing time. All 10 had double-digit minutes in Sunday’s win.
“I truly believe we can play all 10 players — knock on wood,” Staley said. “Hopefully we don’t sustain any injuries. I like the 10 that we suit up at this particular time because they play hard. You can teach a whole lot for players that give the effort.”
After hosting Elon, the Gamecocks will play at Louisiana Tech on Monday.