What: The Fort Myers Tip-Off. It's the same tournament the men are currently playing in but it's formatted slightly different. Like the men's field, there are two divisions. Unlike the men's field, the women know their two opponents for the week regardless of the outcome of Thursday's games. Carolina opens with Iowa State and Purdue and Middle Tennessee State follow. The Gamecocks will play Purdue on Saturday and Iowa State will play Middle Tennessee State, the schools competing in the other division will do the same thing and will not play teams competing in the other division. The full schedule for the event is here.

Who: #4 South Carolina (5-1) vs. #15 Iowa State (5-1), Thanksgiving Day - Fort Myers, Florida. Then on Saturday- South Carolina vs. Purdue (currently 4-1).

Time/TV: 1:30 on FOX for Thursday and 11:00 AM for Saturday. Saturday's game will stream on the Women's Sports Network. Click the schedule link above for a link to the channel. It appears you will need a Roku account to watch Saturday's game.

Line: Thursday only.

History: South Carolina leads Iowa State 1-0 and leads Purdue 3-2. All of Carolina's wins against both opponents have come during Dawn Staley's tenure.

Last Meeting: Iowa State- December 26, 2020. Carolina 83-65. Staley's Gamecocks have been so good lately fans can remember losses way better than most wins. Prior to the last meeting with the Cyclones the Gamecocks were coming off a home loss to NC State. They responded in Ames with a 44-point first half against the 23rd ranked Cyclones. Zia Cooke led the Gamecocks with 19 points. Aliyah Boston and Brea Beal added 13 points each while Destanni Henderson had 12.

Purdue- December 15, 2019. Carolina 85-49. The Gamecock throttled Purdue behind 15-points from Destanni Henderson. Tyasha Harris scored 14 points and dished out five assists. Zia Cooke chipped in 14 points as Gamecocks raced to a 26-13 lead after the first quarter and never looked back.

The Cyclones have a player like no other in Audi Crooks. The sophomore center is 6'3 and is imposing as any center in the country. She's averaging 21.7 ppg and 7.5 rebounds per game. Crooks was First Team All-Big 12 last season as a freshman. She was also an Honorable Mention All-American. Joining Brown in the front court in another star sophomore in 6'2 forward Addy Brown. Brown is the Cyclones second leading scorer at 16.2 points per game and the leading rebounder at 8.7 a game. Brown will also step out at the hit the 3-ball going 9-for-18 from 3-point range so far this season.

Perimeter defense is a key in this matchup as Iowa State is averaging nearly 26 three-point attempts a contest. They are shooting at a 34% clip. Mackenzie Hare, Sydney Harris, Emily Ryan and Arianna Jackson are all proficient from long range.

Iowa State is coached by longtime HC - Bill Fennelly. Fennelly is coaching his 30th season in Ames, making him the longest tenured coach in "Power Four" conferences. His teams have made the NCAA Tournament 25 times, advancing to the Elite 8 on two occasions.

Like the Gamecocks, Iowa State has not hit its stride yet. They were beaten by Northern Iowa 87-75 last week and squeaked by Drake 80-78. South Carolina will be the stiffest test by far for the Cyclones on the season. ISU also plays UConn and Iowa in the non-conference portion of their season.

The Boilermakers are 4-1 with their only loss coming to Notre Dame in blowout fashion by a score of 102-58. This should not be a difficult game for the Gamecocks as Purdue is one of the weaker teams in the Big Ten. Purdue's best player is 6'2 senior forward Regan Bass. Bass averages 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds a games. Destini Lombard is also a nice all around player. She leads the team in assists and steals with 3.6 and 3.2 a night respectively. Lombard is a Louisiana native and began her career at LSU prior to Kim Mulkey's arrival. Lombard spent the last three seasons at Stephen F. Austin.

Katie Gearlds is in fourth season as the Head Coach of Purdue. She was an All-American for the Boilermakers in 2007. Gearlds has led Purdue to two WNITs and one NCAA appearance in her three seasons.

Provided the Gamecocks take care of business in Fort Myers and the Upstate of South Carolina, the hearts and minds of all Gamecocks will be with the Boilermakers are they attempt to ruin Indiana's playoff bid in Bloomington at 7:00 pm. They might be 4-touchdown underdogs but you can throw everything out the window when the Old Oaken Bucket is at stake.

Thursday's game is going to one of the most interesting of the season. Iowa State can do a lot of the same things UCLA can, although the Cyclones are not as talented as the Bruins. Expect a new look starting lineup for Carolina. Staley is going to have do something to jump start the offense. How the Gamecocks respond will tell us a lot about this group going forward. SC wins 75-66.

Purdue falls into that category of team that Carolina can beat without their "A" game. Carolina 83-54.