WBB: ECU Preview

History: Carolina leads the series 15-1. The Gamecocks have won 15 straight in the series after dropping the first ever meeting in 1975. Carolina is 5-0 against the Pirates in Greenville, NC. The two programs have met only once in the Dawn Staley era. The Gamecocks are an impressive 74-8 against current members of the American Athletic Conference. (Remember that UConn is now a member of the Big East Conference).

Last Meeting: December 20, 2015. USC 88-57 in Myrtle Beach. The second ranked Gamecocks got a double-double from Alaina Coates and a game-high 18 points from Tiffany Mitchell while cruising to an easy win over the Pirates. A 15-3 run second quarter run put the game away.

Scouting the Pirates

The Pirates have a solid NET Ranking of 68. They are comparable to a lower end SEC team and should compete for the American title under coach Kim McNeill. Last season, McNeill's fourth, was a breakout season ECU. McNeill was named AAC Coach of the Year while leading the team to a 23-10 record and a third-place finish in the conference in the regular season. The Pirates then made a run, winning three games in three days to claim the 2023 AAC Tournament Championship. East Carolina was soundly beaten by Texas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

The Pirates were projected to finish second to South Florida in the American for the 2023-2024 season with guard Danae McNeal tabbed as the AAC's Preseason Player of the Year. The 6'0 Swansea, SC native, and former Clemson Tiger, has lived up to the billing thus far. She leads ECU in scoring at 19.5 points per game and she is among the nation's leaders in steals with 39. She will challenge Raven Johnson and the Gamecock guards with pressure up and down the court. The Pirates second leading scorer was also a AAC First-Team Preseason selection. Amiya Joyner is a 6'2 forward who is averaging 12.7 points and 8.9 rebounds a game.

East Carolina is a defense first team. They don't score a ton of points and aren't a good shooting team. Especially from three where they convert only 27.9%. The Pirates rank 32nd nationally in field goal percentage defense and 17th in scoring defense. They are also third nationally in steals. I'd expect to the Gamecocks to push the ball in transition after Pirate made baskets. As the case with most South Carolina opponents, ECU doesn't really have an answer for Kamilla Cardoso in the post. The Gamecocks should be able to feed their star center early and often.

Big Day Around WBB

The 23-24 schedule across the country has produced some memorable matchups but December 30th will be the best day of the young season as the cream rises to the top. Today we will get a little taste of who is for real and whose record is artificial inflated by cream puffs. On today's schedule:

#17 Ohio State 10-2 at Michigan 10-3: 12:00 on FOX

Minnesota 11-1 at #4 Caitlyn Clark I mean #4 Iowa 12-1: 2:00 on the Big Ten Network

#10 Baylor 11-0 at 12-0 #5 Texas: 2:00 on FOX. This is the best game of the day.

And finally if you wonder why the PAC 12 isn't going to make it, look no further. South Carolina is playing a Group of Five team and they are on national TV. Ohio St, Baylor, and Texas are playing on FOX. Meanwhile on the west coast: #12 Utah visits #8 Colorado and #6 Southern Cal heads across town to #2 UCLA. Those two games are at 3:00 and 8:00 on the PAC 12 Network, which no one gets. The So Cal and UCLA game is absolutely loaded with star power and should have national platform.

Prediction:

Rust shouldn't be a concern. East Carolina has not played since December 21st. The Pirates have a scrappy defense that should prevent this being an absolute runaway type game. The Pirates are very limited offensively which will keep this game from being in doubt midway through the second quarter. Gamecocks 81-48.