In Team USA’s Red-White scrimmage at Colonial Life Arena Wednesday night, the women’s basketball national team began a series of exhibition matchups featuring a mix of current and former Gamecocks.
Team USA’s lineup, led by South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, featured A’ja Wilson, now with the Las Vegas Aces, and Allisha Gray, now with the Dallas Wings on Team White. Current player Tyasha Harris and Tiffany Mitchell, now with the Indiana Fever, rounded out the group of current and Gamecock alumna on the court.
Team White won the intrasquad scrimmage by a 25-point margin, 100-75, as the team prepares for the 2018 FIBA World Cup in Spain at the end of September.
Wilson capped off the evening with 16 points and 7 rebounds. Gray had 13 points and 4 rebounds. Mitchell pulled down 5 points and 2 rebounds, and Harris had 6 points.
“I thought it was a good showing," Staley said. "Obviously, Red got off to a really good start in the first quarter, then White came on. I think the good thing about it is everybody on both teams were playing for one team. I thought we got better as far as our preparation for the World Cup, and we look forward to continue our domestic portion of it where we will actually have an opponent that won’t be on our team. So we look forward to playing Canada and Japan in the next week.”
Now that Wilson is in the WNBA, Harris is the sole Gamecock returner on the roster. After the first quarter, Harris was third among scorers with 6 points on the board. Wilson stood out as well in the first half, notching 11 points and 4 rebounds at halftime, which marked an overall lead across Team White.
Coming back to Colonial Life Arena and stepping on the court for the first time since the spring, Wilson enjoyed being back in familiar territory.
“I feel like I have grown,” Wilson said. “That level that I played this past summer, it was crazy. Honestly, I haven’t really had the opportunity to step back and take a look at it but yes, I do feel like I have grown as a player and also as a woman. I think leaving South Carolina was good for me and I got to experience a lot of different things. Of course, in Las Vegas, being away from everything and everyone I kind of had time to look back and just see things, and definitely, I liked that experience. I really did. But it’s always good to come home.”
With a slate of match-ups ahead this weekend against Canada and Japans' national squads, Staley has enjoyed playing a pivotal role in supporting her players.
“I’m super proud because each and every one of those players, who whether I coached them for four years or currently coaching them, they all aspire to be WNBA players and Olympians,” Staley said. "I get a chance to be a part of that journey. A journey in which I didn’t know I was going to be a National Team coach. Because I am now, I get to share some precious moments with them and also help them hopefully ... check off that thing that they wanted: to be an Olympian and be a gold medal winner.”
Team USA will travel to New York to practice at the New York Knicks Practice Facility in Tarrytown, New York on Friday morning before facing Canada at Webster Bank Arena on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Team USA will then travel to Washington, D.C. to face Japan on Sept. 10 at 7 p.m. at George Washington University’s Charles E. Smith Center.