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

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1. Answering the criticism
Despite winning the last three games by an average of over 20 points, Dawn Staley lit into the Gamecocks after they beat Mississippi State. She was “confrontational” with them in the locker room after the game, and didn’t hesitate to share her disappointment later with the media.

In short, Staley thought the Gamecocks were too casual. They took plays off, gave up baskets, and generally failed to put the game out of reach when they had the chance. 

South Carolina didn’t practice Monday, but got back to work Tuesday and Wednesday, trying to straighten things out.

“Forced good,” Staley said. “That’s why we’re coaches. We have a high standard of how we should play and if you’ve shown us what that looks like and then you don’t perform that way, it’s our job to let you know that you underperformed.”

Bree Hall thought there was an improved focus.

“Everybody was locked in from the beginning of practice to the end,” Hall said. “I think it’s just doing the little things that she’s asking us to do and doing them to the best of our ability.”

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2. Free throws and turnovers (and layups)
Y’all know the drill. South Carolina has had issues with making free throws and turning the ball over, usually one or the other. Against Mississippi State, they added missed layups to list, missing 20 of the 34 shots at the rim.

In the past, South Carolina has seemed to correct whichever problem upset Staley during the previous game. We shall see if the Gamecocks finally put together a complete game.

3. Better Breezy 
Bree Hall is South Carolina’s leading scorer in conference play, but it wasn’t easy to get to this point. I wrote about how Hall had to work on her mental health to find success on the court. read that story HERE.

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4. This, that, and the other
Kamilla Cardoso was named to the Brazilian senior national team, which is scheduled to participate in the FIBA Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament in February in Brazil. The United States (World Cup winners) and France (host country) have already qualified for the Olympics, but the remaining spots are up for grabs. 

Brazil qualified for the qualifying tournament by winning the 2023 AmeriCup Tournament, where Cardoso was named MVP. The tournament runs from February 8-11. South Carolina hosts Missouri on February 8 and UConn on February 11. 

If Cardoso participates in the tournament, she would likely miss both games (Staley said Cardoso would be a “game-time decision” against UConn, but even that seems overly optimistic). 

If you are into omens, in 2020 Laeticia Amihere did not play against UConn after playing for Team Canada, and that worked out pretty well for the Gamecocks.

Cardoso and Te-Hina Paopao were named to the Wooden Award Midseason Top 25. Aliyah Boston (2022) and A’ja Wilson (2018) are former Wooden Award winners. 

The McDonald’s All-American nominee list was released earlier this week. Joyce Edwards and Maddy McDaniel are both on the list. The other member of the 2024 signing class, Adhel Tac is not eligible since she already enrolled at South Carolina. Over 700 players were nominated, so it was a given that Edwards and McDaniel would be included. 

Lastly, Kansas upset #4 Baylor on Wednesday night, winning 87-66 at home. That leaves South Carolina and UCLA as the last remaining unbeaten teams. 

5. Scouting the Tigers
Mizzou play solid first halves against LSU and Alabama. The Tigers trailed by just seven at halftime against LSU and were tied against Alabama. Then brutal third quarters doomed Mizzou in both games.

Missouri was outscored 32-17 by LSU in the third and 19-6 by Alabama. Both fourth quarters were basically even, making the third even more decisive. 

Missouri ranks near the top of the SEC in three-point attempts and percentage, so the Tigers aren’t just volume shooters, they are effective. Like Arkansas, when Mizzou has a fast break, everyone runs to the three-point line instead of the rim, and South Carolina has to locate the shooters.

Hayley Frank leads Missouri in scoring at 16.5 points, up to 18.5 in SEC play. Mama Den

The point guard matchup between Raven Johnson and Mama Dembele will be fun to watch. Dembele is averaging 9.5 assists in the two SEC games and 7.0 for the season. She’s also been Missouri’s second-leading scorer (12.5) in conference.  Johnson is averaging 9.3 points and 5.5 assists and is the engine that really makes the Gamecocks go.

Perhaps more than the matchups, the Gamecocks have to battle their own Mizzou Arena demons. Since the Tigers joined the SEC in 2012-13, the Gamecocks have lost a total of 20 conference games. Four of those losses were at Mizzou, with just two wins.

“You just have arenas in which it’s hard to play,” Staley said. “It’s just what it is. There’s nothing that you can actually point to. It’s just that way. Balls don’t fall the way you want. Calls don’t occur the way you want. It’s just that type of arena that you feel when you walk in.”

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (14-0, 2-0) at Missouri (9-6, 0-2)
When: 8:00 pm ET, Thursday, January 11
Where: Mizzou Arena, Columbia, MO
Watch: SEC Network+

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