When the final buzzer sounded and No. 2 South Carolina defeated No. 6 Tennessee, the magnitude and importance of the win for the Gamecocks was clearly evident by the way teammates embraced and congratulated each other on the court.
It’s safe to say head coach Dawn Staley’s team enjoyed beating the Lady Vols for just the third time ever.
Note the past tense: ‘enjoyed.’
As sweet as Monday night’s win was for South Carolina (26-1, 14-0 SEC), rules are rules, and Staley has one regarding wins: enjoy them for 24 hours and move on.
With a talented No. 11 Mississippi State team (25-4, 10-4 SEC) coming into town Thursday for the Gamecocks’ senior night, South Carolina can’t afford to live in the past, even though the win over Tennessee was arguably its biggest of the season.
“It’s the type of game where you want to enjoy it, but you also want to talk about Mississippi State, because we have them on Thursday,” Staley said Monday night. “If we don’t win that game, that nullifies this win.”
With only two regular season games remaining, South Carolina still has a lot of work it wants to get done before the SEC tournament begins next week in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
A win against Mississippi State or No. 13 Kentucky next Sunday would clinch the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament for the Gamecocks and winning both games would give them the first undefeated conference season in program history.
Staley’s been pleased with the way South Carolina has played to this point in the season, but she and her staff continuously remind their players that the job isn’t anywhere near finished.
“We talked about that to our players,” Staley said. “You did what you were supposed to do up to this point, let’s not let up.”
Thursday night’s matchup against Mississippi State will be the last regular season game at Colonial Life Arena for senior forward Aleighsa Welch, senior center Elem Ibiam and senior guard Olivia Gaines.
Gaines, a transfer from Louisburg College, is in her second season with the Gamecock program, while Ibiam and Welch have seen the transformation of South Carolina take place from the beginning of their college careers.
When the pair arrived on campus in 2011, South Carolina hadn’t made the NCAA tournament in nine seasons, but the two players have since been around for 105 wins, three NCAA tournament appearances, an SEC regular season championship and two of the program’s wins over the Lady Vols.
Welch and Ibiam combined for 31 points and 22 rebounds in South Carolina’s latest win against Tennessee.
“Tonight was a game in which ‘Leighsa and Elem really put us on their backs and willed us to a win,” Staley said.
Still, if there’s any SEC team that could possibly spoil South Carolina’s upcoming senior night, it might be the visiting Bulldogs.
Mississippi State has won seven of its last nine games and finds itself in third place in the SEC standings.
While the Bulldogs haven’t made the NCAA tournament since 2010, head coach Vic Shaefer’s team will return soon enough, thanks to its stellar season to this point.
Mississippi State has three wins over Top 25 teams and averages 75.9 points per game, 22nd best in the country.
Freshman forward Victoria Vivians leads the Bulldogs with 14.9 points per game.
As impressive as Mississippi State’s season has been, it’ll be going up against a South Carolina team that is 6-1 against Top 25 opponents this season and the Gamecocks feel that they have much more to prove.
“It’s been a great ride, as far as the things that we’ve been able to accomplish and knowing that it’s not over yet,” Welch said.
After they face Mississippi State, the Gamecocks will travel to play Kentucky in the regular season finale Sunday.