WBB: Five Things to Watch

After a ridiculously challenging start to the season, South Carolina finally has a chance to relax a little bit. South Carolina only scheduled two guarantee games this season and those are up next. There’s one more game, against Kansas State - which has traditionally been in the top half of the Big 12 but finished in last place last season - before the break for exams. After two weeks of games where the goal was just to win, South Carolina now gets a week to work on itself and maybe pad the stats a little bit before the next gauntlet starts up in mid-December.

As a side note, Monday’s game was the fifth 1 vs 2 game in Gamecock history, four of them between the Gamecocks and Huskies. The other game was on January 8, 1982, when #1 Louisiana Tech (led by point guard Kim Mulkey) defeated #2 South Carolina 71-58 in Columbia. The Gamecocks are now 1-4 in 1 vs 2 games.

2. Game experience

The difficult early schedule meant Dawn Staley relied on more experienced players. The three games over the next week are the chance for other players to prove themselves. Look for freshmen Saniya Rivers and Sania Feagin to play more (Bree Hall already seems to have carved out her role as a defensive spark plug off the bench). The goal since the preseason has been to have Feagin learn during the non-conference schedule and then hopefully by ready to join the rotation for conference play. Rivers missed the first three games due to illness, which put her behind schedule. She now has a chance to get caught up.

Staley will also get a chance to look at different candidates for backup point guard. The role has been filled by committee since Raven Johnson’s injury. Zia Cooke, Destiny Littleton, and Eniya Russell have all gotten brief looks, but they should get more extended looks over the next week. Littleton was the de facto backup last season, but Staley has said she wants to keep her off the ball this season to take advantage of Littleton’s three-point shooting (which came up big against UConn). Russell has shown some nice play-making ability, but also struggled with decision-making at times. Expect her to get an opportunity to claim the role.

3. Turnovers

It’s pretty obvious what South Carolina needs to work on most: protecting the ball. The Gamecocks are averaging 17.2 turnovers per game, ranked 193rd in the nation. The turnover margin, -2.17, is even worse: 278th in the nation.

Cleaning up the turnovers is already a point of emphasis, and South Carolina has had spurts of ball security (the second half against NC State and UConn). That is, depending on your perspective, either reason for hope or reason for frustration. Either way, it'd b a lot easier to win without giving the other team so much help.

4. Holding serve

To use a tennis analogy, South Carolina got a couple of breaks of serve over the last two weeks. Now they just have to hold serve. It should be easy - think Roger Federer at Wimbledon circa 2006 - but not taken for granted. The South Carolina-UConn game Monday tipped off a wild week of games that has seen quality teams across the country hand each other losses. NC State, which lost to South Carolina, beat Maryland which beat Baylor. And Indiana lost to Stanford which lost to Texas which lost to Tennessee which barely beat South Florida and both still play Stanford. Iowa hasn’t lost because it canceled games due to a Covid outbreak. Arizona barely beat Vanderbilt. Florida State lost to BYU. It’s wonderful, chaotic fun, and as everyone else beats each other, South Carolina can further solidify its claim as the best team in the land. After all, there is still one voter in the coaches’ poll that isn’t convinced.

5. Scouting the Phoenix

Elon is led by head coach Charlotte Smith, Staley’s former teammate with the Charlotte Sting. Smith, who has been at Elon since 2011, became Elon’s all-time winningest coach earlier this season.

The Phoenix haven’t played the same level of competition as the Gamecocks, but they are similar in that they have won with defense. They are allowing just 56.5 points per game on 36.6% shooting, just slightly higher than the 53.8 points and 35.6% the Gamecocks are allowing. It will be quite a challenge to slow down the Gamecocks.

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina (6-0) vs Elon (4-0)

When: 3:00 pm, Friday, November 26

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network+