South Carolina women's basketball: SEC Preview (Part 1)

South Carolina Women’s Basketball: News • Recruiting • Schedule • Roster • Stats • SEC Standings • NCAA Polls • Scholarship Chart

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Conference play begins Thursday with all 14 SEC teams in action. Catch up on how each team faired in the first half of the season with part one of GamecockCentral’s SEC Preview.

Read Part 2 here.

Read Part 3 here.

(NET rankings are as of January 2, 2024.)

Alabama (13-2)
Preseason projection: 9
NET ranking: 25
Best win: 78-73 vs #20 Louisville
Worst loss: 79-73 at Syracuse
Player to watch: In her senior season, Sarah Ashlee Barker has made the jump from a solid starter to a potential All-SEC player. Barker is averaging 15.6 points, more than double her previous career high. She has improved her three-point shooting to 31.1.%, but Barker does most of her damage inside the arc, to the tune of 55.3% shooting.
Overview: Alabama has put together the type of schedule that computers love and voters ignore, full of solid mid-major programs and a handful of middle-of-the-pack power conference foes. The win over Louisville is a resume-builder and losing to Syracuse isn’t too bad, and after a few years of remaking the program, Kristy Curry has Alabama in the running for a top-four finish in the SEC.

Arkansas (12-3)
Preseason projection: 6
NET ranking: 69
Best win: 71-58 at #15 Florida State
Worst loss: 74-70 vs Arkansas-Pine Bluff
Player to watch: Freshman Taliah Scott has wasted no time adapting to the college game. She is averaging 23.0 points to lead the SEC in scoring. Scott didn’t come out of nowhere – she was the 11th-ranked recruit – but I’m not sure anyone expected her to make this big of an impact this quickly.
Overview: The win over Florida State served as a reminder that Arkansas can still get hot and beat anybody. At the same time, the loss to Arkansas-PineBluff reinforced that the Hogs can lose to anyone when the shots aren’t falling. Arkansas is last in the SEC in assists and depends almost entirely on one-on-one jump shots. Saylor Poffenbarger leads the league in rebounding and is averaging a double-double, giving Arkansas an interior presence it hasn’t really had since Chelsea Dungee. That loss to Pine Bluff is going to haunt them all season, though.

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Auburn (11-2)
Preseason projection: 12
NET ranking: 63
Best win: 69-62 vs Washington State
Worst loss: 60-53 at UCF
Player to watch: Honesty Scott-Grayson is the only Tiger averaging double-figure scoring (15.4), plus she fills out the box score with 4.1 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 1.5 steals.
Overview: The Tigers finished 16-15 last season and lost their best player to the transfer portal, so nobody at Auburn cares if you want to ding the Tigers for a weak schedule. They needed wins to build some momentum going into conference play. Auburn ranks third in the SEC in scoring defense and fifth in field goal percentage defense, which should keep the Tigers in games. Whether they can find enough offense to actually win those games (12th in scoring offense and ninth in field goal percentage) is another question.

Florida (9-3)
Preseason projection: 10
NET ranking: 43
Best win: 82-65 vs Michigan
Worst loss: 72-64 at Tulsa
Player to watch: Aliyah Matharu only seems like she’s in her eighth season. It’s actually her fourth season for her third team, following stints at Mississippi State and Texas. She is averaging a career-high 19.0 points this season and went for 27 in Florida’s signature win over Michigan. Matharu is actually shooting a career-low 28% from three (she shot 42.1% as a junior at Texas), so she could get even better if her shooting returns to form.
Overview: Matharu isn’t the only Gator who seems like she’s been around forever. Florida has just one freshman and no sophomores on its roster. Like Matharu, senior Ra Shaya Kyle has emerged in her senior season, averaging 13.3 points and 10.1 rebounds. The Gators score a lot of points (third in the SEC), but give up a lot of points (10th in the SEC). That’s good enough to have them back in the conversation for the NCAA Tournament. 

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Georgia (9-4)
Preseason projection: 7
NET ranking: 79
Best win: 65-57 vs Purdue
Worst loss: 52-51 vs Ball State
Player to watch: Javyn Nicholson is yet another player who is taking advantage of her COVID season and making significant strides in her production. She is averaging 16.3 points and 9.8 rebounds, big jumps from her previous averages.
Overview: Georgia made a surprising NCAA Tournament run thanks to a veteran group of players. But now they have moved on and left a big void. The Lady Bulldogs are once again playing smothering defense, but they miss playmakers like Diamond Battles and Brittney Smith to get points when they need them.

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