How to watch #1 South Carolina at Duke and five things to watch for
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The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (6-0) at Duke (5-2)
When: 1:00 ET, Sunday, December 3
Where: Cameron Indoor Stadium, Durham, NC
Watch: ABC
1. Meet the moment
South Carolina faced its first true road test Thursday night at North Carolina, and Dawn Staley wasn’t happy with how the Gamecocks handled the test.
South Carolina’s first quarter was littered with turnovers, missed shots, and poor defense. When Staley sent Sakima Walker, who has played the least of any Gamecock this season, to the scorer’s table as the first substitute, it was clear she wasn’t happy.
“I didn’t think we met the moment in the first half,” Staley confirmed after the game.
Whether the inexperienced Gamecocks thought they would just roll out the basketball and win by 51 (their average margin of victory), or they weren’t prepared for the hostile crowd, they’ll get a do-over on Sunday.
As with the North Carolina game, Duke will have a hostile crowd in a small, old arena. And like North Carolina, Duke will try to control the tempo and turn the game into a half-court rock fight.
Staley never called a timeout in the first half against the Tar Heels. She wanted her young team to figure things out on their own. They did, albeit slowly, but will it carry over into a fast start on Sunday?
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2. Big Game Breezy
Bree Hall was off to a slow start this season, but she broke out with 15 points and 3-4 shooting from three against North Carolina. It came a little more than a year after she scored 12 points in a road game at Stanford.
That game gave Hall confidence that she could play well in big moments, even though, by her own admission, she hadn’t played well this season. When Hall drew the assignment of guarding Deja Kelly, North Carolina’s best player, it lit a fire.
“It was a little bit of knowing that I was going to have a tough offensive player like Deja and just knowing that I’ve had a little bit of a stretch of not the best games, in my opinion,” Hall said. “I need to prove myself. I can do this.”
Kelly scored 20 points, but Hall made sure she had to work for them. By the second half, Kelly was noticeably tired, and she went from 12 points on 5-9 shooting in the first half to eight points on 1-7 shooting in the second.
Hall’s contributions extended to the huddle as well. She tried to keep her teammates calm, repeatedly assuring them they were on the verge of turning things around, even when it wasn’t happening.
“It’d be four minutes and I’d be like we’ve got four minutes, we can do anything for four minutes, and then it’d get down to one minute,” Hall said. “Of course, it was never one minute. It ended up being five and maybe ten. But that was my biggest thing, stay calm, be poised.
3. Fulwiley and Feagin
Against North Carolina, MiLaysia Fulwiley and Sania Feagin weren’t just non-factors, they barely played. They each played only three minutes, and neither played in the final 28 minutes of the game.
Fulwiley was 0-1 with a block, while Feagin was 0-2. After the game, Staley explained why Fulwiley didn’t play more.
“From a defensive standpoint she lost her man a few of times, gave up a couple threes,” Staley said. “I know that’s one of the things that she’s got to improve on, but it was just such a nip-and-tuck game that I don’t want her to lose confidence. She’ll know exactly why she didn’t get extended minutes.”
Staley didn’t address Feagin specifically, but the same explanation holds. Feagin came in, missed a couple of shots, and didn’t contribute much on defense.
Staley didn’t mention it, but Fulwiley and Feagin’s limited playing time was also a product of South Carolina’s balance and depth. North Carolina had no answer for Te-hina Paopao’s shooting, so Staley wasn’t going to sit Paopao down just to get Fulwliley some playing time. And Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins were playing as well as they have all season, so there wasn’t room for Feagin.
For Fulwiley, it was simply a freshman learning experience. Bring your A game or somebody else will.
“Hopefully she doesn’t feel good about not playing as much as she probably wanted to and we can get her in at Duke and she can play some extended minutes,” Staley said. “But she’s got to be ready to rock and roll.”
The same lesson applies to Feagin, but with the added caveat that she’s battling for playing time in a very deep frontcourt.
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4. Run Baby Run (Hopefully)
Entering Thursday’s game, South Carolina averaged 32.2 fast break points per game. The Tar Heels held the Gamecocks to just six fast break points.
It wasn’t that South Carolina didn’t try to run, but North Carolina did an outstanding job of getting back. The Tar Heels also slowed the pace by playing deliberately on offense.
Duke will try to do much of the same thing.
5. Scouting the Blue Devils
It’s already been a rollercoaster season for Duke. The Blue Devils lost at home to Davidson and then went to Pablo Alto three days later and took Stanford to overtime before losing.
Duke is similar to North Carolina in a lot of ways. They try to keep the pace fairly slow and play tough defense. Duke isn’t as limited offensively as North Carolina, but they also don’t have a Deja Kelly.
Ashlon Jackson was a stud against Stanford, scoring 22 points, but she was also scoreless against Richmond and held to single digits in two other games, including the Davidson loss. Which version of Jackson shows up on Sunday will be a huge factor for Duke.
Two Bonus Notes
Duke is holding its annual Teddy Bear Toss Sunday. The Game is part of the Jimmy V Classic.
