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

South Carolina looks to go to 2-0 in the SEC when it visits Mississippi State on Sunday. Find out how to watch and what to watch for.

1. Locked in
South Carolina was locked in and focused on Thursday, against a team and in an arena where the Gamecocks have been bitten several times in the past. It was reassuring to see from a team with a notoriously short attention span.

They seemed to listen to Dawn Staley’s message.

“I think my team is focused and I think they understand what’s in front of us,” Staley said. “Our league is tough, so it’s going to require a lot of just focus.”

It will be tested again on Sunday. Mississippi State is another team that isn’t necessarily one of the sexy opponents on the schedule but is definitely good enough to pull off the upset.

2. Second quarters, second unit
South Carolina has typically dominated the second quarter this season, outsourcing opponents by an average of 9.1 points going into the Missouri game. It didn’t happen like that on Thursday, but South Carolina did absorb Missouri’s best run of the game and still managed to expand its lead.

It also might have been the best performance of the season from South Carolina’s second unit. MiLaysia Fulwiley led all scorers with 17 points. Ashlyn Watkins had a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. Tessa Johnson chipped in 10 points. Only Joyce Edwards didn’t hit double figures with just nine points, but she was sensational in stopping Missouri’s second-quarter run. 

Even with Maddy McDaniel still sidelined by a concussion, that is about as perfect of a game as it gets.

“I think the bench is unpredictable,” Staley said. “They’re the ones that could come out and score, I don’t know, 57 points in a game, to 13 points in the game. But they’re learning. They could start anywhere else in the country.”

With all due respect, I’m not sure they could score just 13 points. South Carolina’s lowest bench output this season was 26 against NC State, when McDaniel was still out and Edwards started in place of Chloe Kitts.But the point is taken.

[USC-Texas A&M WBB: Win two tickets]

3. Important Garbage Time
Since the Christmas break, South Carolina has put together a couple of blowouts that were over by the fourth quarter. That garbage time is important for the players at the end of South Carolina’s bench – Maryam Dauda and Adhel Tac. 

Staley has tried to find playing time for Dauda and Tac, but it hasn’t been easy. Lackluster performances against Charleston Southern and USF didn’t help, as both games were still in doubt in the fourth quarter. 

Staley was able to give Dauda the entire fourth quarter against Wofford and Dauda responded with nine points and five rebounds. 

Against Missouri, Staley was able to give Dauda and Tac the final five minutes of the game. Dauda didn’t do much, picking up four fouls to go with a point and a rebound, but Tac was impressive. She had nine points and six rebounds, both career-highs, plus a block.

It wasn’t just the numbers, though, it was how she got them. Tac is at least 6-6, but she hasn’t always played that tall this season. She did on Thursday, reaching over Missouri players to grab rebounds or finish strong and drawing fouls.

“She gets in and she was more intentional last night about just making her presence felt definitely offensively, defensively,” Staley said. “It’s getting better. We have to really understand that she really hasn’t played in two years, so she’s continuing to knock the dust off. She looked great. She does a great job with being on our Highlighters.”

Tac suffered two serious injuries in high school that cost her her junior and senior seasons. The coaching staff was optimistic she would be able to quickly shake off the rust at the beginning of the season, but it was taken a little longer.

She seems to be making significant strides over the past few weeks. Last weekend, Staley told me that Tac had played so well for the Highlighters that she had to “bench” her so they could get their work done.

4. Availability report
The first availability report for the game was released at 8:10 pm EST on Saturday and the game day report is released on Sunday. I will update this section with each release.

For South Carolina, Maddy McDaniel and Sakima Walker are listed as OUT. McDaniel since the holiday break after suffering a concussion. Walker has not played since the Iowa State game and hasn’t been available since the TCU game with an ankle injury. 

Mississippi State doesn’t have anyone listed on its availability report.

[USC-Texas WBB: Win tickets, parking]

5. Scouting the Bulldogs
Mississippi State is a perfect case study of how deep the SEC is. The Bulldogs’ NET ranking is 31. That’s pretty strong, right? It puts them 10th in the SEC.

Mississippi State ran into a buzzsaw in the SEC opener at Kentucky. The Wildcats shot 47% overall and 55% from three. Georgia Amoore hit 7-10 from three and Dazia Lawrence was 7-11. There’s not much you can do against that kind of shooting, but Mississippi State didn’t help itself by shooting 36% and going just 4-15 from three. 

Kentucky also had more rebounds and free throws, so they won inside the arc as well.

Mississippi State only shoots 32% from three this season, so that part wasn’t a huge shock. But the Bulldogs are usually an efficient offensive team that shoots 48%. Mississippi State shares the ball to get the looks they want, averaging 17.5 assists per game. 

“They can score it,” Staley said. “They are coached well, they are very calculated in what they want from an offensive standpoint. Defensively, they’re a little stingy. I think it’s going to be wills of discipline for us and what we need to do to continue to get another road win in our conference.”

Jordan leads Mississippi State with 14.7 points and 6.7 rebounds. 6-6 Medina Okut averages 12.5 points and 8.6 rebounds. Powe is hitting 47.5% from three. 

Former Gamecock Eniya Russell transferred to Mississippi State after two seasons at Kentucky and has blossomed in her super senior season. She averages 13.3 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 4.2 assists, all career-highs. Russell is still committing 3.2 turnovers, always a weak spot in her game, but this is what everyone always expected from her.

The Ws
Who: #2 South Carolina (13-1, 1-0) at Mississippi State (13-2, 0-1)
When: 2:00 EST, Sunday, January 5
Where: Humphrey Coliseum, Starkville, MS
Watch: SEC Network

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