Returning home after its first loss of the year against No. 2 Connecticut, No. 1 South Carolina (22-1, 10-0 SEC) will take on the LSU Tigers (14-9, 8-3 SEC) in the Colonial Life Arena Thursday night at 7 p.m.
The first time these two teams met this season was in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where South Carolina won without much trouble, 75-51.
Following their 25-point loss to the Huskies, the Gamecocks will look to bounce back with a win, even though South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said that she wasn't displeased with her team's effort up in Storrs.
“We got beat by a really good basketball team,” Staley said. “But I thought the effort was there.”
Although many see Connecticut as the toughest team South Carolina will most likely face all season, Staley gave credit to the SEC, saying, “We play in the toughest conference of America."
Overall, South Carolina finished with 17 turnovers as a team in the loss to Connecticut. The Gamecocks struggled to shoot the ball well, but senior forward Aleighsa Welch showed dominance on the court, finishing with 17 points. Welch realizes the mistakes that she and her teammates made on the road, but said that they just have to carry on and not worry about what's happened in the past.
“At the end of the day they made plays. We have to evaluate our film and evaluate ourselves and we have to move on,” Welch said.
After the game, both Welch and Staley were adamant when saying that they would like to face head coach Geno Auriemma's team again in March and Staley believes that her Gamecocks haven't hit their ceiling yet.
“I don’t think we’ve peaked yet,” Staley said. “I don’t think we’ve played our best basketball yet.”
As for LSU, the Tigers recently beat Alabama at home 51-39. Coming off a victory, LSU is looking for better play in its second go-around versus the Gamecocks.
Sophomore guard Raigyne Moncrief and junior guard Danielle Ballard each scored 11 points each for LSU in the win over Alabama. Ballard leads LSU with 13.8 points per game this season.
As for the Gamecocks, junior guard Tiffany Mitchell, the reigning SEC player of the year, is averaging 14.9 points per game.
One key difference between South Carolina and LSU is offensive production. The Gamecocks average 77.3 points per game while LSU puts up only 63.8 points per contest on average, but anything can happen over the course of a game.
Staley is confident in her team, but knows LSU has well-rounded players along with a developed team and that South Carolina expects to just walk in and win.
“We have a team’s that’s extremely focused,” Staley said. “We will be dejected for the next 24 hours then we’ve got to move on and we’ve got to play this LSU team that’s been playing really well.”