The South Carolina women's basketball team will travel to Auburn, Alabama for a rematch with the Tigers on Thursday night. The first time around, the Gamecocks beat Auburn handily, 63-49, within the friendly confines of the Colonial Life Arena.

The Gamecocks (11-10, 4-5 SEC) are coming off of a disappointing home loss to the Tennessee Lady Vols, while the Tigers (12-10, 3-6 SEC) are flying high after beating Georgia.

In the first game, KeKe Carrier and Ali Smalley  led the Tigers in scoring, while Jordan Greenleaf added some rebounding and steals. The action flows through Carrier, who has played more minutes per game since the conference season started. She's a good shooter, passer and rebounder and blocked 5 Gamecock shots in the first contest. The Gamecocks, understandably, want to get penetration in the lane into their offensive repertoire, but probably need to exercise better judgment in executing that part of the game plan. (They also provided Tennessee's Kelley Cain with an opportunity to set a game high for blocked shots, in the most recent game.) Carolina won most statistical categories, last game--some rather decisively. The big difference makers were 3-point shooting (8-15 for the Gamecocks vs. 1-5 for the Tigers) and rebounding, 38-31 Gamecocks.

Junior guard Valerie Nainima led the scoring the first time around, with 20 points, including 6-9 from 3-point range. Freshman center Kelsey Bone had 15 points and 9 rebounds, narrowling missing a double-double. Point guard Samone Kennedy had only 2 points, but 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the first game and Charenee Stephens chipped in with 8 rebounds.

The Tigers may have a home-court advantage; if so, this may be a very evenly played game. The Tigers should be full of confidence after beating Georgia--hopefully, overlooking the Gamecocks just a little bit--but the Gamecocks are perturbed that they let a signature win slip away on Sunday. Both are hoping to climb in the rankings and end the season with at least a .500 conference mark and a chance to be a bubble team for the NCAA tournament. Despite their records and current standing, that makes this a fairly crucial game for both teams.

Expect a close, tough contest, though the potential is there for either team to go on a scoring run that could change the momentum and (possibly) the results of the game.  I'm expecting the Gamecocks to have an edge inside, with Kelsey Bone's superior mobility and versatility and more experienced backups available to provide her with some bench time. The guards and outside game are pretty evenly matched. The team that plays the smartest and makes the fewest mistakes will most likely walk away with this one.