Women’s Hoops Closes Out 2024 Action Sunday – University of South Carolina Athletics

On By Littum

Gamecock Notables

  • For the second time in as many seasons, the Gamecocks come out of the holiday break with a non-conference game. In the previous five seasons, South Carolina went straight into SEC action.

  • South Carolina has already played five games against ranked opponents with four wins — both of which lead the nation. The Gamecocks’ 30-game schedule includes a national-high 14 games against teams ranked in this week’s polls or at the time of play, including six non-conference outings.

  • The Gamecocks are winning the turnover battle, forcing 18.8 per game, which has led to 22.4 points per game. match from turnover. On the other hand, South Carolina’s 11.9 turnovers per game the 13th best in the NCAA and has allowed just 9.5 points per game. match to his opponents.

  • The South Carolina defense has held seven opponents under 60 points, including three ranked teams.

  • Four Gamecocks average double-digit points this season, with only one of them playing over 20 minutes per game. match. Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 10.0 points per match has come in just 17.8 minutes per excursion, which makes her average per 40 minutes for a team-high 22.5 points.

  • South Carolina is 17th in the nation with 5.7 blocks per game, and all but one Gamecock has turned away at least one shot this season. Junior Ashlyn Watkins leads the way and is fourth in the SEC with 1.82 blocks per game, including a 2.0 average over the last five games. Guards have accounted for nearly a third of the team’s 68 blocks (22).

  • Five Gamecocks are shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field this season, led by Sania Feagin’s 58.3 percent.

  • South Carolina’s two true freshmen are already making names for themselves. Maddy McDaniel leads the nation with a 5.33 assist-to-turnover ratio, including a 12-to-1 mark in her four games against ranked opponents. Her 3.2 assists per game lead the team. Joyce Edwards is tied for the team lead with seven double-figure scoring games and three games leading the team in scoring. She has been especially dominant in the last six games, leading the team with 12.2 points per game. game on 60.9 percent shooting and 2.0 steals per battle at that time.

By the numbers
10 – Since the loss at UCLA, 10 Gamecocks have scored at least 6.0 points per game. match.

21.5 – Over the past six games, South Carolina has averaged 21.5 fast break points compared to 12.0 over the first six outings.

57.4 – The Gamecocks have shot 57.4 percent in the paint over the last six games, which included three against ranked opponents.

The Wofford Series
The Gamecocks are 7-0 all-time against the Terriers, but only one of those games has been in the Dawn Staley era (beginning in 2008-09) and only two of the five games played in Columbia have been at Colonial Life Arena .

Block party
South Carolina annually ranks among the top shot-blocking teams in the country, and with 12 of 13 Gamecocks recording at least one block this season, they’re continuing the tradition. Even without a dominant center, the Gamecocks are 17th in the nation with 5.7 blocks per game. game, including a combined 10 by the three shortest players on the team – Raven Johnson, Maddie McDaniel and Te-Hina Paopao.

Ashlyn Watkins is fourth in the SEC with 1.82 blocks per game. match, and Sania Feagin is 14th with an average of 1.17.

Nothing but NET
This season, the NET, used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, uses the Quad system, similar to college men’s basketball. The system weights the position of the game as well as the opponent.

Quad 1 includes matches played at home against teams with NET rankings 1-25, neutral matches against teams ranked 1-35 and away matches against teams 1-45. Quad 2 is home games against 26-55, neutral games against 36-65 and away against 46-80. Quad 3 consists of home games 56-90, neutral games 66-105 and away games 81-130. Quad 4 is all remaining games.

Big Gamecock fans
South Carolina fans have led the nation in average attendance in each of the last 10 seasons with an eye on tying Tennessee’s NCAA record streak of 11 seasons after selling out season tickets for the first time in program history – 13,152. Currently leading the nation in average attendance at 16,176, the Gamecocks have played in front of the largest crowd in college women’s basketball this season and five of the top-10 crowds.

The Gamecocks have had at least one sellout of their 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena in eight straight seasons (excluding the COVID-limited 2020-21 season), dating back to the first ever sellout of 18,000 on February 8, 2016. Last season’s five sellouts were the largest in a single season in program history until five have already been declared for this season as well – vs. East Carolina (Nov. 17), vs. Oklahoma (Jan. 19), vs. LSU (Jan. 23), vs. Auburn (Feb. 2) and vs. UConn (February 16).