South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch vs No. 12 Tennessee

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The South Carolina women’s basketball team hosts Tennessee in front of a national television audience and with the SEC championship on the line.

1. It Just Means More

With a win Sunday, South Carolina will clinch a share of the SEC regular-season title. A win would also eliminate Tennessee from contention. LSU and Florida, who play each other Sunday, are still mathematically alive, but the loser of that game will be eliminated. The winner would have to win out and have South Carolina lose its next two games to earn a share. In that case, South Carolina would still be the top seed in the SEC Tournament.

“You just go game-by-game playing,” Zia Cooke said.”It means a lot because that’s one of our goals.”

The title would be South Carolina’s sixth regular-season championship. That would be third-most in league history, behind Tennessee’s 18 and Georgia’s seven.

“This is where we want to be. This is where we’ve always wanted to be. This is why we made the decision to cancel non-conference games,” Staley said. “We chose this over playing a team like UConn.”

South Carolina has also won six of the last seven SEC Tournaments, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

2. Fine-tuning

South Carolina doesn’t just have an eye on another SEC banner, it has an eye on the bigger picture. That includes the SEC Tournament, but mostly it means the NCAA Tournament. That also means the Gamecocks are playing against themselves, not just the opponent.

“We’re playing the game, we’re playing hard,” Staley said. “We’re trying to force playing the best basketball that we can play.”

That means eliminating minor mistakes. After all, it was a missed layup that knocked the Gamecocks out last season. Sloppy play, whether turnovers or missed layups, has been an issue for the Gamecocks at times this season. They’ve been able to overcome it for the most part, but it’s a lot easier if they don’t have to overcome anything.

“Coach said to us a few minutes ago that she wants us to play clean basketball,” Cooke said. “Just play good basketball so when it comes time we can play great basketball.”

3. Aliyah Aliyah Boston Boston

Aliyah Boston can notch her 19th-consecutive double-double against Tennessee, which would tie former LSU great Sylvia Fowles for the SEC record. Boston is also the favorite to sweep the national player of the year awards.

Boston is aware of the steak, aware of the hype, and it matters to her. Good luck getting her to talk about it, though.

“I just try to come in every day and make sure that I’m able to do what the team needs,” Boston said. “I kind of leave that conversation for everybody else.”

Cooke said Boston doesn’t need to talk.

“She’s the GOAT,” Cooke said. “The real ones know that.”

Some of it is by design. Last week when the Twitter war erupted between Boston and Caitlin Clark factions, Boston texted Staley and asked if she should jump in. “No, I got you,” Staley said. Boston is grateful Staley is willing to do that, even if Staley admitted she got too involved.

Staley’s objective is to let Boston be herself. She wants to keep Boston in her comfort zone and keep the focus on a national championship.

“What she’s in (is) right in line with her goals and dreams. More times than not people are going to be who they’ve been their entire lives. You can get your equilibrium shook, but you right it because of the habits that you form, and she’s formed some great habits,” Staley said. “The talk, I’m sure it does something psychologically to her. I don’t want it to get to a point where it is affecting her play. That’s why we have to shut it down and talk about the main thing, and that’s keep winning.”

4. This, that, and the other

It will be a busy, busy day for the Gamecocks.

• Sunday is Senior Day for Destanni Henderson, Victoria Saxton, LeLe Grissett, Destiny Littleton, and Elysa Wesolek. Because of what is on the line, the quintet will not get the traditional Senior Day starts. Grissett already got hers last season, before electing to return for a super senior season. Grisset has no more eligibility, but the other four have the option of returning for a super senior season. Staley has not discussed options with the players, saving that for after the season. But Henderson is projected to be a first round WNBA draft pick so it seems likely she will leave. Saxton, too, has a pro career in front of her and will probably go. The Senior Day ceremony begins at 12:43.

• ESPN’s College GameDay is making its first visit to a women’s basketball game in 11 years Sunday. GameDay will be broadcast from noon to 1:00 pm from Colonial Life Arena. GameDay will be hosted by Elle Duncan with analysts Carolyn Peck (who also provided color commentary for the Gamecock men’s game Saturday), Stephanie White, Holly Rowe, and Andraya Carter. Arena doors will open at 11:30 a.m. so fans can attend the show.

• Sunday’s game will be broadcast on ABC, the first regular season appearance for South Carolina on broadcast television and just the second ever on ABC. ABC aired some NCAA Tournament games in 2021, but carried its first regular season women’s college basketball game in December of this season, when UCLA faced UConn. 

• The game is officially a sellout. That means South Carolina women’s basketball has had at least one sellout every season since 2015-16 (last season attendance was restricted to 3,500 and every game was technically a sellout, although not 18,000). Barring some sort of crazy math, South Carolina will lead the nation in attendance for the eighth consecutive season.

• South Carolina is asking fans to wear garnet or white in different sections to create a striped effect. 

This weekend South Carolina women’s basketball is partnering with EdVenture for the Read with the Gamecocks Book Drive. New or lightly used K-12 books will be collected outside Colonial Life Arena near the fountain. The books will be distributed to underserved areas by the EdVenture Book Bank. This is the 13th year for the book drive. 

5. Scouting the Lady Vols

Tennessee announced Saturday afternoon that guard Jordan Horston is out several weeks with a left elbow injury. Horston suffered the injury late in the game against Alabama, and left with her arm in a cast. Horston leads the Lady Vols in scoring 16.2), rebounding (9.4), assists (4.0), and steals (1.4). Needless to say, she leaves a huge hole to fill.

Staley spoke to the media before the announcement, and the Gamecocks practiced in the morning. Therefore the Gamecocks practiced as though she would play.

“We were preparing as if she’s going to be a big part of what they do,” Staley said. 

As it is, South Carolina has Saturday evening to make adjustments.

Even before Horston’s injury, it’s been a tale of two seasons for Tennessee. Tennessee was No. 4 in the country, had just one loss, and was leading the SEC with a very real shot to knock South Carolina off the throne. In the first NCAA Top 16 reveal, Tennessee was a one seed. But that same night, last place Auburn, previously winless in the SEC, knocked off Tennessee. 

The Lady Vols are now 3-4 in their last seven games, with all losses by double digits. They aren’t thinking about one seeds or SEC titles anymore, they are thinking about whether they still have done enough to be a top 16 seed and host. What changed? Keyen Green suffered a season-ending knee injury. Green wasn’t a starter and only averaged 7.0 points, and 3.2 rebounds, but she held everything together.

“She was their glue. She wasn’t overly a stat-filler, but she was probably the main chemistry, glue, for that team,” Staley said. “I can see that she’s a big difference for them before her injury and after.”

The Ws

• Who: No. 1 South Carolina (24-1, 12-1) vs No. 12 Tennessee (21-5, 10-3)
• When: 1 p.m., Sunday, February 20
• Where: Colonial Life Arena
• Watch: ABC