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

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1. Point guard

Kierra Fletcher played a season-high 27 minutes against Georgia, and Dawn Staley praised her for maybe her best game of the season. Fletcher had four points, three rebounds, and three assists, plus played outstanding defense.

South Carolina also go good minutes from Raven Johnson, who had two assists and two rebounds in 13 minutes. Like Fletcher, she was active on defense. 

Both were guilty of one noticeable flaw: getting impatient with post-ups. Too often against Georgia, by the time Aliyah Boston or Kamilla Cardoso got open in the post, the ball had moved to the other side of the floor. They would dutifully move to the other side and post up, only to find the ball had already moved back to the other side.

Speaking of that…

2. Boston’s Best

Boston finished the game with four points, tying her career-low, and five rebounds. She shot just 1-6 and missed several layups. 

Boston did have several “hockey assists,” when she made the pass that led to the assist. For example, Brea Beal’s go-ahead three was set up by Boston drawing three defenders to the opposite side of the court. And Zia Cooke was able to score a career-high because Georgia was so focused on defending the post.

“You pick your poison and they chose to allow us to shoot outside shots,” Staley said. “In the second half, we were patient and took what they gave us, but we certainly have to get Aliyah Boston going no matter how they play us.”

Georgia was sending three and sometimes four defenders at Boston, often before she even got the ball. Boston admitted it was frustrating “in the moment.” 

“I told her to consider it flattery. It takes four people. No one in the country has to guard against that,” Staley said. “Because of her, everybody on our team got better”

“My teammates and Coach Staley have been trying to help me stay strong up here,” Boston said, pointing to her head. “That’s where definitely the battle is. In your mind, making sure, okay, I didn’t have my double-double but that’s okay, we won the game. On to the next.”

Patience has been the keyword. Whether it is patience to find the open players against the junk defenses, patience getting the ball to Boston, or patience finishing at the rim, as long as the Gamecocks don’t get sped up they will be okay.

“I feel like over the past couple of days I’ve been rushed,” Boston said. “I’m trying to make sure I’m being where my feet are, making sure I’m poised, being careful and finishing my shots around the rim. 

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3. Survive and advance … get ready for the next game

The phrase “survive and advance” is typically associated with March and tournament play, when style points don’t matter. This time of year, style points do matter – for the weekly polls and tournament seeding. 

But a quick look around the country shows that any win, even an ugly win like South Carolina had Monday, is a good win.

In the last week, when conference play began in earnest, there has been a litany of losses. On December 29 alone, #4 Indiana, #6 NC State, #7 Virginia Tech, and #13 North Carolina all lost to unranked foes. On New Year’s Day, #10 UCLA and #12 Iowa lost. 

That doesn’t even include ranked teams that lost to other ranked teams, like Creighton, Michigan, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Oregon, and North Carolina (again).

In other words, don’t cancel those Final Four reservations just yet.

4. Watch list

The Wooden Midseason Top 25 was released Wednesday, as the Wooden Award trimmed its list of candidates in half from 50. Boston, the reigning winner, Cooke, and Beal were on the preseason list. Beal did not make the cut, but Boston and Cooke did.

Iowa, Stanford, and UConn also have two players on the list, and the SEC has four players. Boston is looking to become the seventh player to win two Wooden Awards.

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5. Scouting the Tigers

Auburn is looking for its first conference win, after losing 79-47 to Ole Miss and 62-56 to Missouri. 

In her second season, Johnnie Harris is beginning to put her stamp on the Tigers. Harris was the longtime lead assistant to Vic Schaefer, and Staley called auburn a “prototype” of the old Mississippi State teams.

“They work hard, they full-court pressure, they make you guard them,” she said. “They’ve got some really great pieces that play well together.” 

Those pieces include Aicha Coulibaly, who averages 16.7 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and Honesty Scott-Grayson, who is right behind with 15.8 points per game. Keeping them out of the paint will be the top priority on defense. 

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina (14-0, 2-0) vs Auburn (10-4, 0-2)

When: 7:00 pm, Thursday, January 5

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network+

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