Women’s Hoops Closes Out 2024 Action Sunday – University of South Carolina Athletics

Gamecock Notables

• For the second time in as many seasons, the Gamecocks come off the holiday break with a non-conference matchup. The previous five seasons all saw South Carolina go right into SEC action.

• South Carolina has already played five games against ranked opponents with four wins – both of which lead the nation. The Gamecocks’ 30-game schedule includes a national-high 14 games against teams ranked in this week’s polls or at the time of the game, including six non-conference outings.

• The Gamecocks are winning the turnover battle, forcing 18.8 per game that have led to 22.4 points per game off turnovers. On the other side, South Carolina’s 11.9 turnovers per game are 13th-best in the NCAA and have yielded just 9.5 points per game for its opponents.

• The South Carolina defense has held seven opponents under 60 points, including three ranked teams.

• Four Gamecocks average double-figure points this season with just one of them playing over 20 minutes per game. Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 10.0 points per game have come in just 17.8 minutes per outing, making her per-40-minute average a team-high 22.5 points.

• South Carolina is 17th in the nation with 5.7 blocks per game, and all but one Gamecock has swatted away at least one shot this season. Junior Ashlyn Watkins leads the way and ranks fourth in the SEC with 1.82 blocks per game, including a 2.0 average over the last five games. Guards have accounted for nearly a third of the team’s 68 blocks (22).

• Five Gamecocks are shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field this season, led by Sania Feagin’s 58.3 percent.

• South Carolina’s two true freshmen are already making names for themselves. Maddy McDaniel leads the nation with a 5.33 assist-to-turnover ratio, including a 12-to-1 mark in her four games against ranked opponents. Her 3.2 assists per game lead the team. Joyce Edwards is tied for the team lead with seven double-figure scoring games and three games leading the team in scoring. She has been especially dominant over the last six games, leading the team with 12.2 points per game on 60.9 percent shooting and 2.0 steals per game in that time.

 

By the Numbers
10 – Since the loss at UCLA, 10 Gamecocks are scoring at least 6.0 points per game.

21.5 – Over the last six games, South Carolina has averaged 21.5 fast break points compared to 12.0 over the first six outings.

57.4 – The Gamecocks have shot 57.4 percent in the paint over the last six games, which included three against ranked opponents.

 

The Wofford Series
The Gamecocks are 7-0 all-time against the Terriers, but only one of those games has been in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09) and just two of the five games played in Columbia have been in Colonial Life Arena.

 

Block Party
South Carolina annually ranks among the best shot blocking teams in the country, and with 12 of 13 Gamecocks recording at least one block this season, they are continuing the tradition. Even without a dominant center, the Gamecocks are 17th in the nation with 5.7 blocks per game, including a combined 10 by the three shortest players on the team – Raven Johnson, Maddie McDaniel and Te-Hina Paopao.

Ashlyn Watkins is fourth in the SEC with 1.82 blocks per game, and Sania Feagin ranks 14th with a 1.17 average.

 

Nothing But NET
This season, the NET, used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, is using the Quad system, similar to college men’s basketball. The system weights the location of the game as well as the opponent.

Quad 1 includes games played at home against teams with NET rankings 1-25, neutral site games against teams ranked 1-35 and away games against teams 1-45. Quad 2 is home games against 26-55, neutral games versus 36-65 and away against 46-80. Quad 3 is made up of home games 56-90, neutral 66-105 and away 81-130. Quad 4 is all remaining games.

 

Great Gamecock Fans
South Carolina fans have led the nation in average attendance in each of the last 10 seasons with an eye on tying Tennessee for the NCAA-record streak of 11 seasons after selling out of season tickets for the first time in program history – 13,152. They are currently leading the country in average attendance at 16,176, and the Gamecocks have played in front of the largest crowd in college women’s basketball this season and five of the top-10 crowds.

The Gamecocks have had at least one sellout of their 18,000-seat Colonial Life Arena for eight straight seasons (excluding COVID-limited 2020-21 season) dating back to  the first ever sellout of 18,000 on Feb. 8, 2016. Last season’s five sellouts were the most in a single season in program history, until five have already been declared for this season as well – vs. East Carolina (Nov. 17), vs. Oklahoma (Jan. 19), vs. LSU (Jan. 23), vs. Auburn (Feb. 2) and vs. UConn (Feb. 16).