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

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1. Point guard

Things got pretty thin at point guard against Charleston Southern. Raven Johnson and Laeitica Amihere were held out due to a coach’s decision, and Kierra Fletcher left after aggravating a quadricep injury and played less than 11 minutes.

That left Zia Cooke to shoulder the bulk of the load and meant Dawn Staley couldn’t deploy her point guards situationally. The result was only 87 points on 44.8% shooting. Both numbers should have been higher against hopelessly overmatched Charleston Southern.

It goes to show how fragile South Carolina’s point guard by committee can be.

2. Margin of error

Longtime FAMs will remember that the unofficial motto for last season was “margin of error.” It was both a reminder of how small the difference between winning and losing in the Final Four was and a reminder not to be satisfied with good enough.

I was reminded of that after an exchange Sunday. Cooke was asked how close this season’s Gamecocks are at this point to last season’s Gamecocks.

“Real close. I think we’re looking really (good) right now,” Cooke said. “Everyone is growing in their own way, growing in the areas that are needed. I think we’re pretty good going into SEC play.”

Staley wasn’t the room for Cooke’s answer. When someone relayed the answer to Staley, she laughed and shook her head.

“I don’t think so,” Staley said. “I don’t think so. We’re just different. You’re talking about (Destanni Henderson), who was a two-year starter, she was in our program for four years. She had incredible speed. She had predictability because she knew. (Fletcher) is still trying to figure things out. She’s still learning things on the fly. Raven is still learning things on the fly.”

“Experience is irreplaceable.”

Beyond that, the Gamecocks have had a lot of “good enough” games this season. Staley sounds like she wants to get better execution going into the break.

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3. Who plays?

It certainly seems like Staley is using the bench to get that message across. She sat Kamilla Cardoso and Sania Feagin against Cal Poly and then Feagin, Johnson, and Amihere against Charleston Southern. 

Sitting Amihere, a veteran and one of Staley’s most trusted players, sends the message that nobody is immune. 

Everyone should play Wednesday. For some, it is the last chance to impress before the rotation tightens for conference play. Efficiency is important.

4. Christmas sweater game

The Gamecocks are asking fans to wear Christmas sweaters to the game. The coaching staff is also expected to dress up for Christmas, which has been an annual highlight. Long live Lisa Boyer the Christmas Elf.

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5. Scouting the Chanticleers

Coastal Carolina has already played a pair of SEC teams this season. The Chanticleers lost 78-61 at Georgia and 79-53 at Kentucky. They also lost 76-61 at Wake Forest. South Carolina is better than any of those three, but those games still offer a decent idea of what to expect.

Coastal Carolina shot between 31.5% and 37.3% in those three games and allowed the opponent to shoot right around 47%. Shooting, clearly, is not a strong point. 

What Coastal did well in those games was rebound. The Chants were minus-seven to Georgia, and then minus-two in the other two games. South Carolina is on another level when it comes to rebounding, but we saw South Dakota State manage to hang around by holding its own on the glass.

Senior forward Aja Blount is Coastal Carolina’s leading scorer (17.5 per game) and rebounder (8.7 per game). But at just 5-11, she’s going to be at a significant size disadvantage.

If South Carolina can control the glass and get out and run, the Gamecocks should have no problem.

The Ws

Who: #1 South Carolina (11-0) vs Coastal Carolina (5-5)

When: Noon, Wednesday, December 21

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: SEC Network+

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