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

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1. Point guard

Raven Johnson only played six minutes against South Dakota State, as the slow pace of the game caused Dawn Staley to use Laeticia Amihere more at point guard. Amihere had two points, four rebounds, and three assists. Starter Kierra Fletcher had a solid game with six points, four rebounds, and three assists.

Ten games into the season, point guard by committee seems to be the plan. Dawn Staley has said in the past that she wants one player to take control of the position, but until then the group approach (which also includes Zia Cooke) has been effective.

Each player brings different strengths. Being able to tailor the rotation to match those strengths against the other team’s weakness has been very effective, even if it hurts the individual numbers.

Johnson still has the most potential, but she is better when she is able to push the tempo and play in the open court. Expect to see a lot of her this week as South Carolina plays fast against a pair of overmatched opponents.

2. Get Right Week

The 62-48 win over South Dakota State was certainly ugly. The glass-half-full take is that a win is a win, the game was never in doubt, and South Dakota State is a good team. The half-empty take is that it never should have been that close, South Carolina should have put the game away early, and poor shooting is a concern. 

Whichever side one falls on, you probably still agree with the other side.

South Carolina has two games this week to reestablish some good vibes before the Christmas break. The good news is that Charleston Southern probably won’t offer much resistance. The Bucs are 356 in the NET rankings. That is out of 361 teams. This one could turn into a blowout in a hurry, folks. 

Wednesday’s opponent, College of Charleston, is ranked 237th. Between the two games, South Carolina should be able to work on a lot of internal things this week.

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3. Zia’s Cooking

Cooke is averaging 13.9 points this season on a career-best 39.5% shooting. After a junior season slump, Cooke has bounced back to the form she showed in her first two seasons. She has played excellent defense and, despite playing more point guard, has also cut down on turnovers.

Cooke struggled in the first half against South Dakota State. She was 1-9 shooting, and the last shot was an ill-advised force that led to Cooke committing a foul on the rebound. It was shades of last season when even open looks were a challenge, and she too often forced mistakes.

In the second half, Cooke hit 6-9 from the floor, including a crucial three during the game-clinching 11-0 run. She scored 13 of her team-high 18 points in the second half.

Cooke leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 13.9 points per game this season. Just as importantly, she’s been more than a scorer, something she’s been knocked for in the past. Cooke has willed her way to being a good defender, and she has been effective as a change of pace at point guard. 

Going into the season, Cooke seemed like a long-shot WNBA prospect because she didn’t bring enough to the table. Right now she’s forcing teams to reevaluate her.

4. Turnovers

It feels like a superstitious thing, like a perfect game: don’t mention the lack of turnovers when South Carolina is taking care of the ball. 

The Gamecocks currently have 161 assists and 136 turnovers. They have not finished a season with a positive assist-to-turnover ratio since the 2019-20 season. 

Over the last four games, South Carolina is averaging 14.3 assists and 10.5 turnovers.

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5. Scouting the Bucs

As noted above, the Bucs are one of the worst teams in Division I. They lost to Clemson 84-31, almost the same score (85-31) by which the Tigers lost to the Gamecocks. 

Charleston Southern averages just 50.5 points per game on 32.8% shooting. 

The last time the two teams played, South Carolina won 99-29 in the 2013 season opener. The Bucs might be lucky to keep it to 70 again. Expect a busy game for the record book.

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina (10-0) vs Charleston Southern (2-8)

When: 2:00 pm, Sunday, December 18

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network+

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