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

South Carolina women’s basketball makes a weeknight trip to Athens to take on struggling Georgia. Here’s everything to watch for, plus how to watch the game.

1. Blowout
Maybe it’s greedy and perhaps unsporting, but it would be nice to see South Carolina take control of the game quickly, lead by 20 or so by the second quarter, and cruise to a 30-point win.

Georgia is tied with Missouri at the bottom of the SEC standings and has a NET ranking in the 120s. This game shouldn’t be close.

But South Carolina also shouldn’t have needed until the fourth quarter to pull away from Auburn on Sunday. Plus, some mediocre Georgia teams have given South Carolina fits in Athens in the past.

“People get up to play (us),” Dawn Staley said. “We don’t always get up. We need to get up and stay up.”

With a huge road trip to Austin for a game that will likely decide who wins the SEC up next, it would be nice to take care of this one early.

2. Rebounding
As I wrote earlier this week, it was concerning how many offensive rebounds South Carolina gave up to Auburn. 

It was a point of emphasis in practice, but we’ll find out if the message stuck when the Gamecocks play the Lady Bulldogs. They are not a strong rebounding team, especially without leading rebounder Amiya Evans, who has been sidelined with a thumb injury.  

“You fix it with film,” Staley said. “It doesn’t lie. You show it over and over again. We are working with competitive people. You show them something that they are not doing well over and over again, they are not going to want to see it. They are not going to want to see it in front of their peers and in front of 18,000 people. So it’s just that, it’s a pull on the very thing that keeps them wired to play at a very high level and do it in a way that makes them look good.” 

Raven Johnson confirmed that the players have heard a lot about rebounding lately.

“She’s been big on boxing out,” Johnson said. “That’s the emphasis for this game.”

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3. Highlighter highlights
On social media on Tuesday, South Carolina announced what it billed as the first NIL deal for practice players. The Highlighters (South Carolina’s nickname for the practice players because they wear bright yellow shirts) got gift bags from OOFOS.

The duffle bags contained customized slides, socks, water bottles, and more. It was a way of saying thank you to the people who do what is usually a thankless job.

“They sacrifice so much, and they work so hard. Part of it is that they love basketball, and the other part is that they know they are helping us. I try to come up with innovative gifts, Christmas gifts. I have partnerships with different people, OOFOS was cool enough, and we gave them a Highlighters design to put on their recovery shoes.”

“They tricked us. We thought the OOFOS were for us,” Johnson said. “But we were excited that they got it because they prepare us so well for games and big moments. We don’t take a win without them.”

Staley emphasized that OOFOS makes recovery shoes, not athletic footwear, so they aren’t in competition with Under Armour, South Carolina’s equipment provider (more on Under Armour below). Staley has an endorsement deal with OOFOS, who is supposed to help with recovery after working out.

“They do enough for us that I know their dogs are hurting sometimes,” Staley said.

4. Availability Report
As expected, Ashlyn Watkins is Out.

Georgia’s Amiya Evans has not played since January 5 due to a thumb injury. She is also listed as Out. 

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5. Scouting the Lady Bulldogs
This was probably always going to be a lost season as Georgia waits for its talented 2025 signing class to arrive next season, but it’s been ugly. Georgia has the second-lowest NET ranking in the SEC, and its only conference win was against Missouri. 

Georgia does boast a win over Clemson, but that hardly makes up for losses to Hampton, Georgia State, and UNC Greensboro. Georgia remains the only SEC team without a Quad 1 or 2 win.

Now in her third season, coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson has built Georgia on defense but has had trouble finding enough scoring to win consistently. Unsurprisingly, the Lady Bulldogs struggle to put points on the scoreboard (66.5 points, 41.2 FG%). 

Georgia’s defense remains stingy but not stingy enough. Georgia is holding opponents to 41.2% shooting overall, which is a strong number, but the Lady Bulldogs still allow 67.6 points and 34.2% three-point shooting.

De’Mauri Flournoy leads Georgia at 12.6 points, and she is shooting 41.2% from three. Miyah Verse is Georgia’s leading rebounder (6.5) with Evans out. 

If you are having trouble getting excited for this game, you are not alone, Under Armour has provided the Gamecocks with a new black uniform. These uniforms have the script “Carolina” across the front of the jersey.

This will be the fifth uniform combination South Carolina has worn this season. The others are the basic home whites and away garnet and black sets, plus the “Cocky” alternates.

Back in Black Thursday night pic.twitter.com/ItsGhB7wSl

— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) February 5, 2025

The Ws
Who: #2 South Carolina (21-2, 9-0) at Georgia (9-14, 1-8)
When: 6:00 ET, Thursday, February 6
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, GA
Watch: SEC Network +

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