Who: #1 South Carolina (6-0) vs. #15 UCLA (7-0)
Time/TV: 7:00 on the SEC Network
Line: SC -19.5. Total 127.5
History: The Gamecocks and Bruins have met three times previously with Carolina winning all three on the court. The Gamecocks beat UCLA 86-81 in 1981 but it appears that the win was vacated. (If any reader knows the story we'd love to hear it). The other two meetings have both in the Dawn Staley era with the Gamecocks winning both.
Last Meeting: December 18, 2016. Carolina 66-57. Alaina Coates had 20 points -- 11 in a 17-3 run to start the second half -- and 14 rebounds for South Carolina. In this game, UCLA was able to get Coates and A'ja Wilson in early foul trouble. If Aliyah Boston plays, more on this below, then expect the Bruins to test her early.
Will She or Won't She
"Questionable." That was Dawn Staley's response when asked if Aliyah Boston will play tonight. If Boston is making the call she will play. She has started all 107 games in her Gamecock career and holds the program record for consecutive starts.
This is purely speculation, but I think deep down, Staley would like to sit Boston and test the Gamecock's deep bench against a quality opponent. In November, at home, is the perfect time to experiment and see how Kamilla Cardoso and Ashley Watkins respond. Thus far, Carolina's bench has been productive offensively, averaging 44.0 points to account for 52.1 percent of the Gamecocks’ total offense. By comparison, last season’s bench netted just 21.1 points per game for 29.8 percent of the offense. On the glass, two of the top three rebounders this season come off the bench in Cardoso (6.8) and Watkins (5.5). The bench has grabbed 49.8 percent of the total rebounds so far this season.
Gamecock Scoop writer Alan Cole reported yesterday: "She feels a lot better than she did yesterday," head coach Dawn Staley said. "I think for the most part it scared her. She's a game-time decision, though." My money is on a limited Aliyah Boston tonight. After tonight, Carolina doesn't play another team presently in the AP Top 25 until they travel to UConn on February 5, and they don't start conference play until December 29th (30 days from tonight). There is plenty of time for Boston to rest.
Scouting the Bruins
UCLA has arrived ahead of schedule. Bruins coach Cori Close landed the #1 recruiting class in the country last season headlined by top 3 player Kiki Rice. Rice is averaging 11 points per game and she knocked down 15 points in UCLA's upset win over Tennessee in the Paradise Jam.
UCLA's best player, and projected Top 10 2023 WNBA Pick, is Charisma Osborne. The Senior guard is averaging 20.1 points per game to go along with 7.1 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1.3 steals. Osborne also shoots 86.7% from the charity stripe. “They’ve got a great guard in Osborne,” Staley said. “She can go." Brea Beal is probably going to be matched up with Osborne for most of the night.
As a team, UCLA is 19th in rebounds per game (45.6), 25th in rebounding margin (+11.1), and 23rd in offensive boards per game (16.1).
In addition to the aforementioned win over Tennessee, UCLA has strong wins over Marquette and South Dakota State. UCLA also beat common opponent Cal Poly this season by a score of 84-48. Carolina beat Poly 79-36.
