Now in the meat of its SEC schedule, the South Carolina women’s basketball team will head to Vanderbilt this weekend in a matchup of top-25 teams.
The No. 10 Gamecocks (17-2, 5-1 SEC) hosted the No. 16 Commodores (16-3, 5-1 SEC) on Jan. 5, and South Carolina won 76-66. The game, which is at 2 p.m. Sunday, will be just as important, as both teams are vying for an SEC regular season title.
In the first meeting, Gamecock freshman center Alaina Coates had a career-high 24 points. Coates has continued to be a major part of South Carolina’s success this season, though she’s only started one game. She leads the team in rebounding with 8.1 per game to go along with 12 points per game.
Junior starting center Elem Ibiam has also performed well, scoring just under 10 points a game and taking 6.6 rebounds per contest. Sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell leads the Gamecocks in scoring with 15.4 points per game and has been consistent throughout the season.
Junior forward Aleighsa Welch has demonstrated that same consistency, scoring 13.8 points per game while shooting over 60 percent on the year. She is also second on the team in rebounding with just under eight boards a game.
When South Carolina beat Alabama 77-51 at home this past Sunday, Mitchell saw a lot of time at point guard, and junior Olivia Gaines got her first start of the season at shooting guard.
Head coach Dawn Staley said Gaines was “solid” in her first start.
“She definitely, from a defensive standpoint, does her job and kind of forces teams to play at our pace,” Staley said after the game.
South Carolina’s main focus on defense should be Vanderbilt’s senior guards Christina Foggie and Jasmine Lister. Both players were held in check in the first meeting, and Foggie scored 16 points on 5-of-16 shooting. Lister put up 13 points but shot just 25 percent in the loss.
Foggie leads the Commodores with 19.3 points per game while shooting over 40 percent from three-point range. Lister is shooting even better from beyond the arc, at nearly 50 percent, and is second on the team with 16.3 points per game. She is also the team leader in assists, with 5.1 per game.
The Gamecocks come into the contest having won eight of their last nine games, with the loss coming on the road in overtime against No. 17 Texas A&M.
The team got off to a fast start against Alabama last Sunday. Another quick start will be useful for South Carolina in trying to sweep the season series against Vanderbilt.
“It felt good to try and get that early start,” Ibiam said after the Alabama game. “We’ve been talking about that all year, just trying to figure out what changes we need to make or how we need to prep ourselves before the game to get us out of the gate early.”
The Gamecocks have some favorable matchups after facing the Commodores, but Mitchell said the team will not look too far ahead and keep its focus on one opponent at a time.
Staley echoed that statement when she was asked a similar question — but with a bit more passion.
“The road opens up a little easier?” Staley said. “No, not in this league. In this league, anybody can beat anybody anywhere. Home isn’t safe. The road isn’t safe. By any means, looking ahead at the teams in this league, you’re setting yourself up to fail.”