This Thursday night, the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team will play host to the University of Kentucky Wildcats, a 15-2 team which (so far) seems to be a legitimate contender. Regardless of talent lever, South Carolina has--over the years--seemed to have some kind of difficulty with the Cats...and it does look like this Kentucky team is a real threat, this season. Though their non-conference schedule was nothing to brag about (Bellarmine? McNeese State? Miami of Ohio, among others) they did pulverize quite a few of those opponents; 8 victories were by margins of 34-54 points. Among the teams they throttled was Boston University, who shortly thereafter surprised South Carolina by beating the Gamecocks on a neutral court.

With the start of Southeastern Conference play, which is when the weaker teams with inflated records start sliding towards a .500 record, Kentucky has yet to falter. They lost their SEC opener at Georgia ( a hostile arena, if ever there was one) by only one point, in overtime 60-61. They followed that up with a 10-point victory over Vanderbilt in Lexington. While Vanderbilt has lost a couple of key players since last season, they are still a tough opponent. This Kentucky team is doing its best to establish some credibility in the SEC race for the championship. The Wildcats are averaging 79.3 points per game, to 54.7 for their opponents. Because of their soft early schedule, they have some very nice statistics to brag on, at this point, leading their opponents in every single category.  I expect those numbers to start sliding to a more realistic place as the SEC season wears on, whether the Kentucky team continues to win or not.

It's a team with a mix of youth and experience; there are 2 seniors, 3 juniors, 3 sophomores and 3 freshmen on the roster. Junior forward Victoria Dunlap leads the team in both scoring and rebounds, with 18.1 points per game and 9.3 rebounds. She is also leading the team in both blocked shots (32) and steals (57). Two other players average double-figure scoring: freshman guard A'dia Mathies with 11.4 points per game and junior guard Amber Smith with 10.5 points per game. Smith also leads the team in assists with 63. The other players who see the most playing time are junior guard Carly Morrow, sophomore guard Rebecca Gray and senior guard Amani Franklin.

Notice that 5 of the 6 most-used players are guards. It is also worth noting that the tallest player on the roster is freshman center Anna Cole, who is 6-7, but very rarely plays. Without Cole, team height ranges from between 5-5 and 6-2.  Only 3 players, other than Cole, are listed at 6 feet or taller.

The South Carolina Gamecocks also have a wealth of talent at the guard position, as well as 6-5 freshman center Kelsey Bone in the middle. I would expect the Kentucky game plan to pay some significant attention to getting the ball inside to Bone and establishing Carolina dominance in the paint. She has help inside from junior forward Jewel May, a strong and solid 6-2 forward, and sophomore forward Charenee Stephens, who plays taller than her listed 6-1 and has a nice scoring touch to go with a penchant for rebounding. The Gamecocks, particularly at the guard positions, will need to play with attention and intensity on the defensive end, with so many guards involved in Kentucky's scoring. Hopefully, the Wildcat guards will also have their hands full with the South Carolina guard rotation. If the game is close, we can hope that the Gamecocks have an edge in that department, having played many close games over the past couple of months. This is another of the kind of games that Carolina really has to win, in order to establish their own credibility in the SEC race.

Tipoff is scheduled for 7 pm at the Colonial Life Arena.