South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - ETSU

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South Carolina opens its title defense Monday night against East Tennessee State.

1. Point guards

After going through warmups, point guards Raven Johnson and Kierra Fletcher both sat out the exhibition game against Benedict. Zia Cooke, Laeticia Amihere, and Talaysia Cooper handled point guard duties in their absence. Johnson and Fletcher are expected to play against ETSU, but Dawn Staley bent over and knocked on the hardwood court when she said they should play.

Speaking Friday, Staley said she expects Johnson to start and Fletcher to back her up. Both players will be on minutes restrictions. For Johnson, it will be her first game action in nearly a year, and for Fletcher, it will be her first game action in almost 20 months. 

“Raven’s had the most reps at it, and Kierra is slowly getting there,” Staley said. “They both give us something totally different than each other, and I like it. I really like it.”

The return of Johnson and Fletcher isn’t the only change in the point guard rotation. Staley has been adamant Cooper will not handle point guard duties. Additionally, Amihere has returned to Canada due to a death in the family, and will not be available Monday night. 

2. Recapping the exhibition

South Carolina easily took care of business against Benedict. Staley was able to play different groups of players together and experiment with lineups, although she emphasized that “we weren’t whole” without Johnson, Fletcher, and Victaria Saxton, who sat out with a sore foot.

ETSU should provide stiffer competition than Benedict did, but it should still be another blowout. That probably means less experimenting with lineups, but everyone should still play. With a showdown at #17 Maryland on tap Friday, Staley wants to see the same effort tonight before she tightens the rotation for Maryland. 

“I liked the fact that we played 40 minutes as hard as we could play, and everybody that stepped on the floor,” Staley said. “I hope that we can continue that type of effort and not take anything for granted.”

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3. A bold prediction

Staley has said that last season’s team was her best ever. She believed it was better than the 2017 national championship team or the 2020 consensus no. 1 team. Staley confidently predicted that, barring injuries, this season’s team will be better.

Presented, without comment, is her entire statement:

“I want this year’s team to be better than last year’s team. I do think we have the potential to do that. That’s not taking anything away from Henny or anybody else that wasn’t a part of last year’s team. I think this year’s team has the potential to be better. One: they share the ball a lot more. Two: everybody that was on our team last year that returned, they’re better. The people that we’re bringing in, like Talaysia and Ashlyn, they fit in nicely. You can see their progression every day. If we can continue to progress in areas that we weren’t good at – three-point shooting, assists, field goal percentage – if we can get better in those areas, I like it.”

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4. Banner night

20 minutes before tipoff, South Carolina will recognize the accomplishments of last season’s team. The ceremony will begin by recognizing South Carolina’s eighth consecutive season leading the nation in attendance. A banner will be unveiled on the main concourse, with a video played on the video board. Then the 2021-22 team will receive its championship rings. Lastly, the national championship banner will be unveiled. We’ve been warned there will be confetti.

South Carolina had to rearrange the banners after last season because there was no room for more banners in the old setup. Instead of a banner for each accomplishment, there are banners for conference titles and tournament appearances listing the years. The Final Four banners have been moved from the baseline to a corner so that the most recent championship banner can have prime placement over the baseline.

The ceremony is expected to end by 8:20.

5. Scouting the Buccaneers

ETSU went 6-22 last season, although the Bucs were part of a three-way tie for fifth place in the SoCon. The Bucs are on their third coach in three seasons after accusations of Title IX violations last season led to the firing of Simon Harris in August. Brenda Mock Brown, formerly at UNC Asheville, had been out of coaching when she agreed to take over at ETSU on August 8, 2022. Needless to say, it’s a challenging situation for the Bucs.

ETSU returns just five players from last season and adds five freshmen and four transfers. Sophomore guard Courtney Moore, who averaged 8.9 points and shot 32.7% from three last season, is the leading returning scorer. 6-3 Jakhiya Davis is the top returning rebounder at 6.2 per game, and she has the daunting task of guarding Aliyah Boston. ETSU also has a player from Ireland, freshman guard Paris McCarthy, which has nothing to do with anything but is unusual.

Moore did not play in ETSU’s exhibition win over Mars Hill. Temple transfer Jiselle Thomas had a team-high 29 points and freshman Journee McDaniel had 12 points and 10 rebounds. 

The Bucs were outscored by an average of 13 points per game last season, including a 112-58 loss at Tennessee.

Bonus: Freshman follow-up

Last week I wrote about the impact the freshmen Cooper and Ashlyn Watkins had in the exhibition. At the time, Watkins hadn’t been available to talk to the media yet. She spoke Friday, and here’s what she said.

How Watkins felt during the exhibition:

“It was exciting playing with them for the first time, but it was actually kind of like practice. We scrimmage in practice a lot, so I was treating it like a scrimmage and not an actual game so I wouldn’t be nervous.”

What she needs to improve on:

“(Staley) wants me to be more active on both ends of the court. Just continue to play to the best of my ability because sometimes I take time off, or plays off. She just wants me to be consistent the whole game.”

What she wants to get better at:

“I need to work on my shooting more. And I want to be able to drive to the basket more often.”

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The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina vs East Tennessee State

When: 8:30 pm, Monday, November 7 (Ring ceremony begins at 8:10)

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network

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