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

No. 6 South Carolina hits the road against Vanderbilt on Sunday. Find out how to watch and what to watch for.

1. Stay focused and engaged
It took about a quarter for South Carolina to hit its stride against Arkansas, but once it happened, there was no stopping the Gamecocks.

Arkansas probably isn’t good enough to take advantage even when South Carolina got off to a sluggish start, but Vanderbilt could be. It would be nice if South Carolina came out blazing, but as long as the Gamecocks settle into their stride quickly, they should be okay.

What is their stride? Defense, winning in transition, and sharing the ball on offense.

“We’re focused,” Dawn Staley said. “We’re not perfect, but we’re focused. When we have the level of focus that we have, we’re going to be disciplined on both sides of the basketball, and we’re going to play cleaner basketball. So, it’s easy for everyone to see on both sides of the ball.”

2. Put the brakes on Blakes
South Carolina’s defense will be tested by Vanderbilt’s star freshman Mikayla Blakes, who has scored more than 50 points twice this season. 

Blakes has an unusually well-rounded offensive game for a freshman. She can get to the rim, hit the midrange, and shoot from three. Blakes is a volume shooter, but she’s not just a chucker. She averages 23.4 points and hits 46.4% overall and 33.7% from three. Blakes also hits 88.5% of her free throws.

“It’s hard to stop when you got the greenest of green lights,” Staley said. “You’re unafraid. You have no fear of missed shots. You have no fear of turning the ball over. So, it’s hard when you’re running up against a player like that. You’ve just got to make it difficult. You’ve got to control what you can control. You can control if you’re fouling her or not; you can control whether or not you’re giving her clean looks. Those are the things that we can control, and we just try to get her to play inefficient basketball.”

Blakes also grabs 3.4 rebounds and dishes out 3.1 assists. If there is a weakness in her game, it’s turnovers. Blakes averages over three turnovers a game and has about the same number of turnovers (82) as assists (83) this season. 

Win tickets to Senior Day, South Carolina-Kentucky women’s basketball game

3. Dauda time?
Arkansas transfer Maryam Dauda had one of her best games of the season against her former team. Dauda had nine points and eight rebounds in 14 minutes. It was her second-best scoring output of the season and tied her season-high for rebounds.

Staley said after the game on Thursday that she thought Dauda looked relaxed for the first time this season. It showed up again when the team watched the film Friday morning.

“We watched it, we gave her her flowers in film today, and I hope that she feels that and wants to bottle that up and display it again,” Staley said. “Because I do think she stretches the floor like no other post player on our team. She rebounds consistently. That’s what she does when she’s been in the game. And she defends. So, hopefully, we’ll be able to put her in a position where she can she can help us.”

Dauda had been a non-factor in SEC play. In 12 previous appearances, she totaled just 11 points and 12 rebounds. She made more field goals (three) against Arkansas than she had made the rest of the season (two).

South Carolina is in dire need of more post depth. Dauda doesn’t need to produce a near-double-double to be effective. If Staley can trust her to play 10 minutes that would be a tremendous addition going into the postseason.

4. Availability Report
Ashlyn Watkins is out for South Carolina.

Vanderbilt’s Sacha Washington is out for the season due to a blood clot in her leg. 

If any other players are added to the Availability Report, this section will be updated.

5. Scouting the Commodores
Blakes has been so good this season that she has overshadowed Khamil Pierre, who is a few rebounds shy of averaging a 20-10 double-double. Pierre averages 20.8 points and 9.7 rebounds plus 2.9 steals.

Pierre set the Vanderbilt scoring record with 42 points early in the season, only to see Blakes blow past that mark (twice).

Vanderbilt’s weakness is on the defensive end. Pierre is only 6-2, which leaves her undersized against most opposing forwards. Blakes is 5-8, and Vanderbilt is on the small side throughout the roster. 

The Commodores have a habit of giving up a lot of points, including 101 to the Sooners on Thursday and 87 and 76 in a pair of games against offensively-challenged Ole Miss. 

When they’ve had success against ranked teams, they’ve been able to keep the score low. Vanderbilt beat then-15th-ranked Tennessee 71-70 and then-19th-ranked Alabama 66-64. 

South Carolina doesn’t want to get into a shootout with Vanderbilt because Blakes is more than capable of winning that kind of game. But South Carolina still wants to make sure the score isn’t stuck in the 60s.

Scoreboard-watching guide
LSU plays at Kentucky on Sunday. LSU is a game behind South Carolina and Kentucky is two games behind. A Kentucky win helps more, but an LSU win would just about lock Kentucky into the fourth seed in the tournament.

Texas plays at Georgia on Monday. South Carolina is hoping Georgia can pull off one of the biggest upsets of the season.

The Ws
Who: #6 South Carolina (24-3, 12-2) at Vanderbilt (19-8, 6-7)
When: 3:00 ET, Sunday, February 23
Where: Memorial Gymnasium, Nashville, TN
Watch: SEC Network +

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!