WBB: Five Things to Watch - North Carolina A&T
South Carolina hosts North Carolina A&T Monday night to bookend the weekend with its two guarantee games.
1. Consistency
Despite beating Elon by 41 points on Friday, that pesky second quarter, when the Phoenix outscored the Gamecocks 16-13, left a bad taste in South Carolina’s mouth. A bad quarter like that is no big deal against Elon, but such lapses would be much more problematic against tougher opponents.
That second quarter lull happened when the second unit entered the game. That group included freshmen Saniya Rivers and Bree Hall, who are seeing more playing time in these guarantee games. They need to avoid letdowns if they want to earn more playing time as the season progresses. That message has surely been delivered, but how well has it been received?
2. Backup point guard
Raise your hand if you expected before the season to see Laeticia Amihere running point guard for the second unit. Anybody?
After Raven Johnson suffered a season-ending knee injury, Dawn Staley said the backup point guard position would be filled “by committee.” Last season that meant Zia Cooke, Destiny Littleton, and a bit of Eniya Russell.
This season Dawn Staley wants Littleton off the ball to take advantage of her shooting (a decision that worked against UConn when Littleton hit two big threes), Cooke is already logging heavy minutes at shooting guard, adn Russell is still learning the role. Enter Amihere.
“She understands it, she knows it, she can keep the pace until we’re able to develop a little more at that position with some of the young players,” Staley said. “I like her speed at that position. She’s unafraid, and I’d rather have somebody out there that’s unafraid. She’s not afraid to make mistakes. She’s a good passer into the posts. She knows it.”
The mismatch works both ways, as Amihere is vulnerable against dribble penetration. But Staley is confident that her height and length make up for it.
Staley also tried Rivers, another tall, long player, at point guard against Elon. Rivers is not a point guard, but she is a natural playmaker. Her defense needs work but when she is at point guard she has a definite size advantage that can mask some shortcomings. It worked against Elon, when Rivers had a steal and two blocked shots, but she was also running things during that second quarter slump.
3. Feagin’s growth
Going into the season the plan was to bring Sania Feagin along slowly and have her ready for the conference schedule. That hasn’t changed - yet - but Feagin might be accelerating the timeline.
Feagin has only played in the fourth quarter of blowouts, but she has been impressive. Feagin is averaging 4.2 points on 75% shooting along with 1.6 rebounds in jst 5.0 minutes. She also had two assists against Elon as she and Kamilla Cardoso played well together.
“She’s slowly been getting better in practice,” Staley said. “She’s one that the competition is a bear for her, just as a freshman and coming here and seeing all that and actually having to play against it every day. It could either shake your confidence or build it. She chose the latter. She’s built confidence in herself and making the commitment to do the right thing, to be productive, and she’s a product of what she’s been practicing like of late. She’s good around the basket, she can make a layup. She’s got pretty good hands, and she really does understand what we’re trying to do. She’s making the most out of the minutes that she’s getting.”
Feagin should have another chance to impress against North Carolina A&T. If she does enough, and if Amihere continues to spend time at point guard, Feagin could get closer to making the rotation.
4. Milestones
Zia Cooke is just 17 points away from 1,000 career points. She could pass the milestone Monday night, but if not then almost certainly on Friday night.
A little bit down the road, Aliyah Boston is 62 points away from 1,000, and Destanni Henderson is 81 points away. Even further down the road, Henderson is also 75 assists away from tenth place on the career list. Boston already has the third most blocks in school history with 183. She trails A’ja Wilson’s school record 363 and the 210 by both Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and Alaina Coates. Boston is also just a little over 100 rebounds from the top ten.
5. Scouting the Aggies
North Carolina A&T made the NCAA Tournament last season as the MEAC tournament champions, their final season in the MEAC before moving to the Big South this season. So far, but this season the Aggies are 0-5 and coming off a 76-66 loss at Elon. The Aggies have yet to play a home game, one of the challenges of life in a one-bid league.
Defense has been the biggest struggle for A&T. The Aggies are allowing opponents to shoot 49.8% from the floor, just one missed shot under 50%. That’s not a good omen against a Gamecock team that is shooting 49.6%. Opponents are also shooting 40.4% from three and averaging 20.8 assists on 28.6 baskets.
South Carolina and North Carolina A&T have met three times previously. South Carolina won the first two games by 54 (2006) and 28 (2007) points, but in the last meeting, in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, South Carolina had to sweat out a 73-62 first round win.
The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (7-0) vs North Carolina A&T (0-5)
When: 7:00 pm, Monday, November 29
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: SEC Network
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