The South Carolina women’s basketball team opens the Southeastern Conference portion of the schedule on Sunday afternoon, hosting the LSU Tigers at the Colonial Life Arena.
The LSU Tigers are one of 4 Southeastern Conference teams, tied for 2nd place in the overall standings with the conference season just about to begin. All of those teams have records of 11-1, while Georgia stands alone at the top with an undefeated season at 13-0. Sixteen games from now, expect those standings to look a little bit different, but I think LSU will still be in the top four and quite possibly, at the top.
The Tigers haven’t played the toughest schedule in the country and their only loss is an unlikely one (to Nebraska--at Nebraska–63-77) but they have thoroughly dominated their opponents in all aspects of the game. They have averaged a 27.3 point scoring margin over opponents, 9.4 rebounds per game advantage, have outshot opponents 42% to 33%, more than double the number of assists and steals than opponents have managed and committed 12.5 turnovers per game to more than 22 by their opponents. And the advantage of a less-than-excruciating non-conference schedule is that the team can ride into the conference schedule high on confidence and a stellar won-loss record. Not that they are pretenders; LSU was one of the better teams in the SEC (and the country) last season. They aren’t as young as they were last year and most of the sophomore class gained considerable on-court experience, last season. So they’re actually "old"–for sophomores. There are only 2 seniors on the roster, one of them being their leader Allison Hightower. Hightower currently leads the team in minutes played, scoring (16.6 points per game), steals (30), field goal attempts, field goals made, free throws attempted, free throws made and 3-point field goals made. And she gets plenty of help from sophomore forward LaSondra Barrett, averaging 9.6 points per game and a team-leading 5.9 rebounds per game. Sophomore forward Taylor Turnbow adds 8.5 and 5.6 rebounds per game; junior guard Katherine Graham adds 6.8 points and 5..1 rebounds per game;. Junior guard Latear Eason has started all 12 games and leads the team in assists (43) while scoring 4.3 points per game and 2.3 rebounds. She is also second on the team in steals with 19. The starting lineup, with only 1 senior, is young but extremely experienced.
Last season, the Gamecocks lost to LSU 56-63 at the Colonial Life Arena. That game came 2 games after senior leader Demetress Adams was lost for the season with a knee injury and 1 game after USC’s other senior leader, Brionna Dickerson, was also injured and out for the season. Despite the loss of the two most experienced and accomplished players on the team, the Gamecocks made a run at the Tigers and threatened to win in the last few minutes of the game.
The South Carolina team has only gotten better, since last season. Junior guard Valerie Nainima (who was sitting out her transfer year, last season) is now on the court and leading the team in scoring at 19.3 points per game. Freshman center Kelsey Bone, rated the #2 recruit in the land, has stepped into a starting role and is second in scoring with 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game. She has faced some incredibly physical defense, in the post, but is learning (game by game) how to deal with what is thrown at her. Sophomore guard LaKeisha Sutton is averaging 10.8 points per game and junior point guard Samone Kennedy averages 7 points and 3 rebounds per game, along with leading the team in assists with 39 and steals with 23..Junior forward Jewel May rounds out the usual starting lineup, averaging 3.3 rebounds and 1.6 points, but her defensive play and overall court coverage outweigh her stat line. Jewel is frequently seen saving a ball from going out of bounds or diving to tie up a loose ball. Sophomore forward Charenee Stephens has been in and out of the lineup, due to injuries and other factors, but still averages 9.5 points per game and adds a valuable 7.9 rebounds per game, taking some of the pressure off of Bone on the inside.
The Gamecocks still tend to throw the ball away too often and occasionally tend to waste their valuable (but limited) time on the free-throw line, but when they crank up the defense and their intensity, they can compete with just about anybody. The team that will face LSU on Sunday is very different from the team they faced, last season.
Tipoff is scheduled for 6 pm Sunday, January 3 at the Colonial Life Arena.
