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

South Carolina hosts East Carolina on Sunday in a sold-out game. Find out how to watch and what to watch for against the Pirates.

1. No Tessa
South Carolina will have to wait at least one more game to have its entire roster available. Tessa Johnson, who tweaked her ankle against NC State and did not play against Coppin State, is unlikely to play against ECU.

“I doubt it,” Dawn Staley said.

South Carolina has been without at least one player for every game this season, making it hard for the Gamecocks to get into a rhythm. Ashlyn Watkins was suspended for the first game. Chloe Kitts was suspended for the second game. Maddy McDaniel was recovering from surgery for the first two games. And Johnson missed the third game.

For a team that has often been noticeably sloppy, the missed games don’t help.

2. Start faster
I wrote in detail about South Carolina’s slow starts and what could be causing them. You can read that HERE.

Historically, Staley doesn’t tinker with her starting lineup much. But this feels like a season where she might. The most obvious and likely change is swapping Sania Feagin out for Ashlyn Watkins, but Staley hasn’t committed to any changes.

“You take into consideration all of it,” Staley said. “But you’ve got to get the right people out there that can actually execute.”

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3. Sellout
Sunday’s game against East Carolina is officially a sellout. South Carolina has already announced sellouts for the Oklahoma, LSU, Auburn, and UConn games as well. 

The five sellouts tie the single-season record set last year. With Texas still on the schedule, the record will most likely be broken.

Attendance for the first home game of the season was 15,550. That already gives South Carolina the leading attendance average in the nation, and it will go up to at least 16,775 after Sunday’s game.

South Carolina averaged 16,067 last season, the second-highest in NCAA history behind 1998-99 Tennessee’s 16,565. 

Because of the sellout, arena doors open 30 minutes early, at 12:30 pm.

4. Streaking
South Carolina has won 41 consecutive games. A win Sunday would tie the program record of 42 consecutive wins, set from 2022-23. South Carolina and Connecticut are the only programs with multiple 40-game win streaks (Connecticut has several).

South Carolina hasn’t lost a game in 597 days and hasn’t lost a regular season game in 1,053 days.

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5. Scouting the Pirates
Last season, South Carolina beat ECU 73-36 in Greenville, but the final score was misleading. South Carolina played with a post-Christmas hangover, and the Pirates gave the Gamecocks fits before talent (and an injury to starting point guard Micah Dennis) took over.

Last year, East Carolina played aggressive defense and gave South Carolina different looks. In the first half, South Carolina was undisciplined and struggled to get good shots.

“It’s going to be a tough game,” Staley said. “They are well-coached, they all can score, they all want to score, so they’re going to force our defense – every single person that’s on the floor – to defend one-on-one. We’ve got to trust our help, got to rebound the basketball, and, most importantly, probably have to take care of the basketball because they’ll press us. They’ll zone. They’ll make us think a little bit, so they’ll just try to get us out of our rhythm.”

South Carolina settled down, and its superior size and athleticism took over in the second half. Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double, Kitts added 10 rebounds, and MiLaysia Fulwiley had 12 points and nine rebounds.

Amiya Joyner led the Pirates with 10 points and six rebounds in that game. She is the leading rebounder this season with 9.0 per game. Jayla Hearp redshirted last season due to injury, but she is healthy again and averaging a team-high 16.7 points.

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (3-0) vs East Carolina (2-1)
When: 2:00 pm, Sunday, November 17 (Doors at 12:30 pm)
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Watch: SEC Network +

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