Jaden Daly Previews the Pirates for the Seton Hall-South Carolina Game at MSG

Good morning, college hoops fans!  It's time for the annual Daly Dose of Hoops/College Hardwood preview swap as South Carolina takes on Seton Hall tonight at MSG.  While I preview South Carolina for Jaden Daly on his terrific Daly Dose of Hoops site,  Jaden previews Seton Hall for us on this site.  Enjoy!

Hi everyone, Jaden Daly from Daly Dose Of Hoops here, joining you once again to preview the Pirates of Seton Hall University as they take on South Carolina in the Under Armour Reunion event at Madison Square Garden.

My staff and I have covered Seton Hall extensively over the past few years, and have seen them in person three times already this season. Below you will find game recaps and postgame thoughts from each of those games:

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/11/seton-hall-raises-curtain-on-season.html (Game recap vs. FDU)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/11/seton-hall-91-fdu-70-5-thoughts.html (Postgame thoughts - FDU)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/11/seton-hall-routs-ccsu-improves-to-2-0.html (Game recap vs. Central Connecticut)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/11/seton-hall-82-ccsu-58-3-thoughts.html (Postgame thoughts - Central Connecticut)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/12/seton-hall-95-columbia-71-recap-thoughts.html (Game recap vs. Columbia)

http://dalydoseofhoops.blogspot.com/2016/12/from-donuts-to-buckets-powell-surging.html (Feature on Myles Powell)


Starting Guards
Seton Hall's strength is in its backcourt, and Khadeen Carrington leads the way following the transition of Isaiah Whitehead into the NBA. Still primarily used as a two guard, Carrington will move on to the ball and run the point during games, and still provide the same lethal scoring ability. Once predicted to be the all-time scoring leader before his career was over, Carrington leads the Pirates with a 20 point-per-game average, becoming the latest in a long line of scorers from Brooklyn. His shooting has picked up where it left off in the Big East tournament, shooting 55 percent both from the floor and three-point range. If the Hall needs a bucket, you can bet Carrington will be the first option for it.

Desi Rodriguez is more of a wing, but still a slasher at 6-foot-5 who can be a guard in a conventional lineup and a small forward in a smaller lineup. The most athletic of the Pirates, Rodriguez is the source of many highlight-reel dunks throughout the year, and will seek opportunities to drive the lane against South Carolina. With averages of nearly 15 points and seven rebounds per game, his numbers have improved enough to where the offensive production vacated by Whitehead and Derrick Gordon is no longer a question. His defense is still a work in progress, though, so if the Gamecocks can exploit him on the perimeter, it could change the game.

Madison Jones usually gets the start at the point guard spot. A graduate transfer who came to South Orange from Wake Forest, Jones made a strong first impression with ten assists in the season-opening win over Fairleigh Dickinson, and has since continued to be a deft passer who knows how to thread the needle in almost any situation. Like Rodriguez, his defensive ability needs work, which has explained a slight dropoff in minutes while he learns the nuances of the defense-oriented Pirate system. But when he is on the floor, he will always look to get his teammates involved before taking a shot of his own.

Starting Forwards
Any mention of the Seton Hall front line has to start with Angel Delgado. By far the best big man in the Big East, the junior has been unceremoniously snubbed of all-conference honors in each of his first two seasons, and is still making his opponents pay every time out. The 6-foot-10 Dominican is a walking double-double, averaging nearly 14 points and 11 rebounds per game, all the while shooting 59 percent from the field. Delgado is, in my opinion, a cross between former Pitt forward DeJuan Blair and a player some of you may already be familiar with from Gary's past chronicles, Stony Brook's Jameel Warney. An evolving part of Delgado's game has been his ability to elude double-teams and pass out of the post, freeing up players like Carrington and Rodriguez; and even Myles Powell, for long-range jumpers or threes on the baseline.

Next to Delgado is Ismael Sanogo, who is the most underrated big man in the New York area. A 6-foot-8 forward built like a linebacker, Sanogo has a nose for the ball unlike any other, and makes so many defensive plays that box scores simply will not do any justice. Without Sanogo, the Pirate interior is significantly weakened, as there is no one else to do the dirty work under the rim when Delgado gets into foul trouble. His stats may not seem like much, but look at what Sanogo affects on the defensive end before you read a stat sheet.

Bench
The Pirates normally play a seven-man rotation for the most part, meaning Myles Powell and Michael Nzei are the two you will see in the game most often. Powell is a precocious freshman whose three-point shooting conjures up memories of former Seton Hall legend Jeremy Hazell. Having lost 45 pounds in the offseason, Powell is most dangerous on the perimeter as evidenced by his 42 percent shooting from beyond the arc. He can also step in and take a mid-range shot in a smaller lineup. Nzei is a 6-foot-8 high-energy forward, a lot like ex-Fordham center Ryan Canty. A redshirt sophomore, Nzei is developing more with each passing game to become an integral piece of the puzzle for the reigning Big East champions.

Should one of the bigs get in foul trouble, Rashed Anthony will likely see a handful of minutes, as will Veer Singh. Singh is a stretch four who has become a fan favorite for his tendency to shoot NBA-range threes and connect on a fair share of them.

Coaching/Intangibles
This is where Seton Hall has undergone its biggest evolution. The improvement in Kevin Willard's execution over the last two seasons has been unparalleled. Once rumored to be on the hot seat after the alleged rift between Whitehead and Sterling Gibbs, which ultimately saw Jaren Sina transfer to George Washington, Willard stepped back and assessed the situation, and applied a renewed sense of energy into offseason workouts and practices prior to last season. The result paid off with a conference title, and with four returning starters back this season, the expectations in South Orange remain high. In some ways, Willard's upward trajectory is quite similar to that of Frank Martin. Take a look:

2010-11: 13-17, 7-11 Big East
2011-12: 21-13, 8-10 Big East (second round of NIT)
2012-13: 15-18, 3-15 Big East (dropoff due to younger team, first true post-Bobby Gonzalez roster)
2013-14: 17-17, 6-12 Big East
2014-15: 16-15, 6-12 Big East
2015-16: 25-9, 12-6 Big East (conference champions, lost in NCAA round of 64)
2016-17: 7-2, picked in a fourth-place tie in Big East

Outlook
Seton Hall was picked low presumably because those unaffiliated with the program really did not know what to expect as the Pirates adjusted to life without Isaiah Whitehead. Their 1-2 record in November's Advocare Invitational proved that much more remains to be accomplished, but wins over Hawaii and California in the Aloha State last week also serve as proof that the core of last year's championship squad remains very much alive.

The best part of this roster is that only one player, Madison Jones, is a senior. Assuming no one else takes their talents to the professional ranks, the Hall has a chance to potentially three-peat in the Big East, which would establish them as the first true dynasty in the league since it was restructured in 2013. Reaching the NCAA Tournament as sophomores, albeit overachieving, was a significant feather in the cap of the program in that the resurgence Willard spent a half-decade building toward came a year ahead of schedule, with the realistic opportunity to use last year as a foundation.

With in-state rival Rutgers coming up one week from Friday, the Pirates get yet another strong test to prepare them in the form of South Carolina. The loss of Sindarius Thornwell presents a huge opportunity for Seton Hall to take advantage, as does Angel Delgado against an undersized front line. The biggest key to victory, however, will be what happens at the free throw line. Foul shots have been Seton Hall's Achilles' heel all season, and if they leave points at the charity stripe, the door will be open all night for the Gamecocks to push through.

Gamecocks, Tiger Burns and Black Bears Oh My (Recap of South Carolina vs Maine Women's Basketball Game)

Last night, my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, and I took in our first University of South Carolina Women's Basketball game of the season.  Weeknight games usually consist of my wife dropping off Matthew where I work, USC School of Law (by the way, in South Carolina, as Ian McCormick would tell you, the University of South Carolina is USC, not Southern Cal).   We then have a quick dinner at the Wendy's across the street, then we walk down Greene Street to Colonial Life Arena (CLA to us USC folks).

Yesterday evening, we took a detour.   It's Clemson Week, as the Gamecocks will play their annual football game against the Tigers on Saturday in Death Valley.  So Monday of Clemson Week means "The Tiger Burn", where students gather together for the annual event at the intramural field near CLA, which consists of music, festivities and where a giant, thirty foot constructed Tiger is set fire and burned to the ground by fireworks (which is then put out by the Columbia Fire Department).

I first saw the Tiger Burn four years ago with my good friend Tieff (if you don't know who Tieff is, then you are not a regular to this blog.  But peruse some back articles and you'll learn quickly).  We watched it from the Thirsty Fellow, an establishment conveniently located across from the intramural field.  There's nothing quite like having a good beer and watching a very large bonfire. 

Matt and I stayed around for a few minutes.  Then we realized it would be several more minutes before the Tiger got lit more than Notre Dame's defense did in the second half vs. Virginia Tech on Saturday college football action.  So we made our way to our seats at CLA to watch USC take on Maine.

But when we got there, there was another game in progress; the third quarter of Saint Peters vs. Hampton.  USC was actually hosting three other teams in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge and they would all play each other over a three day span starting on Sunday.  On Sunday, USC had already defeated Hampton 92-38, while Maine downed Saint Peters' 59-43.   The last day's slate of games on Tuesday will be Hampton vs. Maine and St. Peter's vs. USC.

As for this game, well the Peacocks were certainly not the Gamecocks.  And that was just fine with the Lady Pirates. Their first four opponents on the season had been Northwestern, Iowa, NC State and South Carolina, all losses, with the lowest margin of loss being nineteen to the Wildcats.  So a non Power-5 Conference St Peter's team was a welcome change and Hampton took full advantage.  The Lady Pirates ran rings around a slower MAAC team that had won only four games all last season.   Hampton downed St Peter's handily 71-42.

Then we got to the main event.   South Carolina had struggled from the field early against Hampton. They only led 21-15 after the first quarter, before ramping up their game, outscoring Hampton by forty eight points the rest of the way.   There was no such issue against from the outset vs.  Maine.  A'ja Wilson hit the first three baskets for the Gamecocks.  Then after Kaela Davis made one of two free throws, Alaina Coates made two baskets.   South Carolina made seven of their first nine field goal attempts.

Meanwhile, the Black Bears shooting was as cold as typical winter day in Orono, Maine.    They missed their first eight shots.  And when they weren't missing their shots, they turned the ball over five times in the first five plus minutes of the first quarter.  South Carolina's height was just too much on both ends and thus the score was 15-0 Gamecocks with 4:49 left in the first quarter.

Maine finally got a basket and actually outscored South Carolina 5-4 over the last four minutes of the first half.  The Black Bears went to a 2-3 zone to force USC to shoot from the outside.   Maine actually got within twelve a few times in the second quarter, the latest being 22-10 with a little more than eight minutes remaining in the second quarter.  From there, USC would outscore 21-9 the rest of the quarter.

USC went up by thirty eight late in the third quarter, 60-22.  Then coach Dawn Staley brought in her freshmen to play most of the fourth quarter.   The final was 79-42 USC.   With transfers Davis and Allisha Gray, with Wilson, Coates, returning point guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore and talented freshman reserve Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, the Gamecocks have plenty of balanced scoring. as the six players mentioned scored between seven and fourteen points, with five of them in double figures (Cuevas-Moore had seven points).

Today is the last day of the Basketball Hall of Fame Women's Challenge.   Maine and Hampton get to see in the first game which team will finish with two wins in the tournament.  Meanwhile, St Peter's looks to have another tough day in store as they play South Carolina.

At least for the Peacocks, they won't be burned to the ground like a 30 foot tiger effigy was last night.  There will be a tomorrow for St Peter's. 

Sessions' Late Free Throw Allows South Carolina to Survive Texas A&M

After a heavy morning rain, the clouds subsided and the sun came out in Columbia, South Carolina on Sunday, just in time for the Gamecocks to face the #15 Aggies of Texas A&M,  It was the third game of an eleven game gauntlet for South Carolina where they face nine ranked teams over the span, including finishing up with five ranked teams in a row.

Sun, Jan 10 - 83-58 win over #20 Missouri

Thu, Jan 14 - 73-62 win at #9 Kentucky

Sun, Jan 17 vs #15 Texas A&M

Thu, Jan 21 @ Auburn

Sun, Jan 24 @ #7 Mississippi State

Thu, Jan 28 vs Ole Miss

Sun, Jan 31 @ #15 Texas A&M

Thu, Feb 4 vs #9 Kentucky

Mon, Feb 8 vs #1 Connecticut

Thu, Feb 11 vs #20 Florida

Mon, Feb 15 @ #13 Tennessee

That's not a schedule for the faint of heart. The crowd of 15,406 that packed Colonial Life Arena for the 12:30 PM EST was ready for the third game in this brutal stretch of games for the #2 Gamecocks. So were the #15 Aggies.

Before the game started, South Carolina Junior Center Alaina Coates was awarded a ball for scoring her 1000th career point in the home win over Missouri a week ago.  Coates had a double double in the win over the Tigers.

Texas A&M, similar to #20 Missouri when they played the South Carolina, came out physical against the Gamecocks.  However, unlike the Tigers, the Aggies matched their physicality with athleticism and hot shooting.  Behind guard Courtney Walker's hot shooting, Texas A&M jumped out to a quick 13-6 lead.  

But South Carolina responded with a 10-0 run over the next five plus minutes. Tiffany Mitchell had four points and an assist during that spurt, which was capped by a Coates layup to put the Gamecocks up 16-13.  But Texas A&M responded with the last four points of the quarter to take a 17-16 lead. 

In the second quarter, the teams traded leads six times over the ten minute period.  After A'ja Wilson gave South Carolina a 26-25 lead, Wilson followed up with a block of a Courtney Williams layup attempt on the other end.  It appeared that the Gamecocks would run down the clock for the last shot in the second quarter, but Khadijah Sessions dribbled into traffic and Walker stole the ball and went the length of the court, laying the ball in before the buzzer sounded.  Texas A&M was up 27-26 at the half.

It was clearly a test of wills in the first half as Texas A&M collapsed on the South Carolina bigs, Wilson and Coates.  But Coach Dawn Staley continued to have the Gamecocks work the ball inside, knowing the high percentage shot is usually the best shot.  

So while the Aggies were able to bottle up Coates the whole game, Wilson became their go to player. That's due in part that the six foot four Wilson is so athletic, she can take the ball from the free throw line and drive to the basket.  She scored the Gamecocks last eight points in the first half.  And the game plan didn't change at the start of the second half as Wilson scored the first six points for the Gamecocks.   Her layup put South Carolina up 32-29.    Coates followed with a layup of her own and the score was 34-29.

But Texas A&M once again was resilient, as they responded with an 8-0 spurt.  Jordan Jones was responsible for six of those points, a three pointer and an old fashioned three point play, which gave the Aggies a 36-34 lead.  Chelsea Jennings capped the run with a layup and the Aggies led 38-34.  But Sessions responded with a layup of her own to cut the deficit to two to end the third quarter.

Sessions' layup would be the start of a 9-2 run for the Gamecocks.  Wilson and Mitchell would each hit two free throws and then Bianca Cuevas buried a three pointer to put South Carolina up 43-40.  A few minutes later, a Sessions layup would extend the lead to four, 46-42.   However, Jordan Jones would nail a three pointer and follow with a layup to put A&M back in front 47-46 with a little over six minutes left in the game.

But once again, the Gamecocks responded with another 9-2 spurt.  It started with a Cuevas three point play and ended with Wilson scoring the last three points on a layup, then later by hitting one of two free throws.  Colonial Life Arena was rocking as South Carolina went up 55-49 with two and a half minutes left in the game.

The Aggies would not quit, cutting the lead to two, 55-53 with Anriel Howard and Walker assisting each other on baskets.  However Wilson would respond with a layup and one.  She missed the free throw though and the Gamecocks were back up four 57-53 with 1:14 left in the game.

South Carolina would have chances to put the game away.  But Mitchell turned the ball over with about 30 seconds left in the game.  Walker would hit two free throws after on foul on Sessions to cut the deficit to two, 57-55 with twenty seconds left.  

After getting fouled, Mitchell had a chance to possibly put the game away but missed both free throw attempts.   A&M had a chance to tie with four seconds left but Jones missed a free throw of her own.  Jones hit the second and the score was 57-56.  The Aggies fouled Sessions, who missed the first free throw but hit the second to put the Gamecocks up two, 58-56 with three seconds left.  We now had the setup for one of the wildest endings to any basketball game this season.

Off the inbounds pass, the Aggies' Taylor Cooper was able to find Jennings on an outlet pass and she was able to lay the ball in to tie the game at 58 with one second.  But with the game tied, on the South Carolina inbounds pass Texas A&M's Shlonte Allen, who was seeing her first minutes of the game, inexplicably grabbed Sessions as she was trying to drive down the court.   Allen was called for the foul, and lucky for A&M's head coach Gary Blair, Allen wasn't called for an intentional foul, as she made no attempt to go after the ball.   The brain freeze on Allen resulted in two free throw attempts for Sessions to win the game with .8 seconds left.

However, Sessions added to the excitement of the finish by missing the first free throw.  With the crowd imploring her, Sessions hit the second free throw to put South Carolina up 59-58.  Mitchell would then steal the desperation inbounds pass at mid court and the Gamecocks held on for a truly exciting 59-58 victory.

Wilson was dominant the entire game for the Gamecocks and nearly had a triple double with twenty six points, eight rebounds and eight blocks.  Mitchell was the only other South Carolina player in double figures scoring with eleven points.  Cuevas had nine points, Sessions added eight and Coates was held to five points, though she had eleven rebounds.

The three guard attack for Texas A&M - Jones, Walker and Jennings each scored in double figures and combined for forty seven of the Aggies' fifty eight points.  The Aggies actually out-rebounded the Gamecocks 43-33, which included seventeen offensive rebounds.

The Gamecocks survived the third game of their gauntlet and now go on the road to face Auburn, a pretty respectable 12-6 team with a 2-3 conference record.  One of those wins was earlier in the conference season over #7 Kentucky.  

Such is the life in the SEC.  Even the unranked teams are pretty darn good.

South Carolina's Strong Defensive Start Dooms Missouri

The #20 Missouri Tigers had to be telling themselves yesterday, "If we can come out strong against South Carolina, we've got a chance to win."   In the Gamecocks last several games, especially against SEC conference foes Arkansas and Vanderbilt, #2 South Carolina struggled out of the gate.  Against the Razorbacks, the Gamecocks were tied at nine after one quarter.  Against the Commodores, the Gamecocks were tied at halftime and were losing late in the third quarter before rallying to win.

So it only seemed natural for the Tigers to feel a strong start would go a long way.  During warm-ups, my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, noted that Missouri seemed to have a lot of players practicing, more than South Carolina (two bench players have the left the Gamecocks in the last week, leaving them with eleven players, still plenty given their talent).   Matthew and I would find out within a few minutes of game action why that was the case.

As for the Tigers hoping for a sluggish start from their opponent, too bad Dawn Staley had her Gamecocks ready from the get go.

The home crowd of 15,934 that packed Colonial Life Arena yesterday seemed to pump life into South Carolina from tip-off.   The Gamecocks height and athleticism on defense frustrated the Tigers immediately in the first quarter.  In the first seven and a half minutes of the first quarter, Missouri missed all thirteen shots from the field and turned the ball over four times.

Meanwhile, it was obvious what Missouri's game plan was on defense.  Physical defense that would have made Bruiser Flint proud.  They picked up seven fouls in the first five and half plus minutes in the game.  My color analyst, aka my older son Matthew, commented that we were going to see at least one Missouri player foul out and noted "So that's why they have so many players!"

Meanwhile, South Carolina was able to slog their way through Missouri's physical play to score enough points to make a difference early on.  Alaina Coates hit a three point play to put the Gamecocks up to stay 3-0.  Neither team would score for the next three plus minutes as the Gamecocks missed on five straight shots. Finally,  Khadijah Sessions would score on four free throws, sandwiching a three point play by Tiffany Mitchell and a free throw from Alaina Coates.  South Carolina was up 11-0 with four plus minutes left in the first quarter.

During this time, Missouri Freshman Sophie Cunningham "enamored" herself with the Gamecocks fans due to her physical play, especially one fan behind us in Section 115.  That fan kept yelling at the top of her lungs "SOOOPHIE!", among other things.

Missouri finally made a basket from Kayla Robinson nearly eight minutes into the first quarter. At the end of the first quarter, the score was 17-5.

The Tigers came out scoring in the second quarter with five quick points, including a three pointer by Maddie Stock to cut the lead to ten, 20-10.   But the Gamecocks would respond with a 13-2 run over the next nearly five minutes. Mitchell would lead the way, scoring six of those thirteen points.  Her two free throws would cap the run and make the score 33-12.   South Carolina would end up leading at halftime 35-17.  Missouri almost had as many fouls, SIXTEEN, as points, seventeen.

The start of the second half saw Missouri come out strong from the locker room.   The Tigers outscored the Gamecocks 12-4 over the first minute and a half.  Sophie Cunningham continued to ingratiate herself with the Gamecock faithful, scoring a basket to cut the lead to ten 39-29.

After a Coates basket that put South Carolina up twelve, Mitchell took over from there.  She scored the next seven straight points; a layup assisted by Tina Roy, a three pointer again assisted by Roy and then finally, she took matters in her own hands.  Mitchell stole the ball and drove in for a layup.  The Gamecocks were back up nineteen 48-29 and the game was over for all intensive purposes.

Except for the fan that was "enamored" with Sophie Cunningham.  Sophie would pick up her third foul midway through the third quarter, which ended with South Carolina up 56-34.  In the fourth quarter, she would quickly pick up fouls four and five which resulted in our fan yelling "BYE SOPHIE!!"

As Matt had predicted, a Missouri player fouled out.  In fact, two fouled out, as Jordan Frericks fouled out later.  Missouri would use THIRTEEN players in the game, as the entire team picked up thirty four fouls.  South Carolina took full advantage, hitting on thirty two of their forty three free throw attempts in the 83-58 drubbing of Missouri.

Mitchell led all scorers with nineteen points, shooting eight of nine from the free throw line. Coates and Wilson each had double doubles.  Coates had thirteen points and twelve rebounds, while Wilson had eleven points, eleven rebounds and six blocks.  Jatarie White came off the bench for the Gamecocks and added eleven points.
Missouri was held to thirty one percent from the field, including four of twenty one from beyond the arc, as South Carolina's overall team height and quickness were too much for the Tigers.  Only Ciera Porter was in double figures scoring for Missouri with ten points.

With the win, the Gamecocks are now 15-0 on the season and have matched the #22 undefeated men's team in record.   Both teams are now a combined 30-0 on the season, a truly remarkable fact given conference play for men's and women's basketball is already a week old.

The schedule doesn't get any easier for South Carolina.  They play another two ranked teams in a row.  First, a road match-up with #10 Kentucky and then a home game vs. #13 Texas A&M.  

But if they come out and play defense as well as they did against #20 Missouri, it won't matter who they play. The Gamecocks look primed for another SEC conference championship.

A strong start always helps.

Despite Offensive Struggles, Gamecocks Pull Away From Pirates

In the ten years that I have been covering college basketball, I find that final scores, whether in men's or women's college basketball, are often deceiving.  Such is the case with last night's 86-48 win by South Carolina over Hampton in women's college basketball action at Colonial Life Arena.

Coming off a very impressive 86-37 win over Winthrop on Sunday, which included the Gamecocks leading at the half 47-13 over an Eagles team with a similar record at 2-7, you would think they would not have much trouble with a 1-7 Pirates team that lost five of its seven games by twenty one points or more.

But that's why the game is played and not left to statistical programs.

After an awards ceremony for Coach Dawn Staley, A'ja Wilson, who was sitting again due to nagging injuries, Alaina Coates and Tiffany Mitchell for their play for USA National Teams in the offseason. the Gamecocks started the game out scoring six of their first eight points on free throws, including four by Mitchell, and took an 8-0 lead.   It took the Pirates about four minutes and ten seconds into the first quarter before Malia Tate-DeFreitas hit a basket to make the score 8-2.   South Carolina would answer back scoring six of the next eight points to take a 14-4 lead with about three and a half minutes left in the quarter.  It looked like Hampton would suffer a similar fate to Winthrop, who was outscored 26-7 in the first quarter on Sunday.

Then a funny thing happened.   Hampton showed why they made the second round of the Women's NIT last season, using quickness to create extra possessions for them.  The Pirates would force three Gamecocks turnovers and score the next five points to cut the deficit to 14-9, holding South Carolina scoreless the rest of the quarter.

The Gamecocks seemed frustrated on offense.  Seemingly easy layups just went off the rim,  In one first half possession, the Gamecocks fired two consecutive jumpers off the backboard never hitting a rim.  Even a three point attempt from the corner hit the side of the backboard.  Staley was none too pleased with her offense in the first half of the game.

The second quarter saw the Gamecocks starting to pull away as they went on a 14-2 run over the first six and a half minutes to take a 28-11 lead.  Much of that scoring was due to Coates, who worked hard to free herself from the Pirates defense to score six of those points.   Now it looked like the Gamecocks had finally shaken off the offensive cobwebs.

But once again, South Carolina went into a drought as the Pirates continued to play hard on the defensive end.  Hampton would hold South Carolina to two points in the last three and a half minutes of the second quarter, while scoring seven points of their own in that span.  The Gamecocks only led 30-18 after shooting just 30 percent in the first half.

After a halftime show that featured Cocky doing the Chicken Dance, the Gamecocks started on offense much like the men's basketball team did at the start of the second half vs. Drexel on Tuesday night.  South Carolina hit their first four field goal attempts, including two three pointers and a layup by Mitchell and one by Khadijah Sessions.  Interspersed with those field goals were four three throws, including a free throw on a three point play on the layup by Mitchell.  The Gamecocks extended their lead to nineteen, 45-26.

After a three point play by Tate-DeFreitas cut the lead back to sixteen, 45-29, the Gamecocks would extend the lead over the five final minutes of the quarter to take a 59-38 lead after three quarters.  The Gamecocks nearly scored as many points in the third quarter, twenty nine, than they did in the first twenty minutes of the first half.  They did this despite committing seven turnovers in the quarter.  They also extended their lead despite Hampton scoring more points in the third quarter, twenty, than they did in the first half.   What helped was that South Carolina shot seven of eight from the field in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks continued their hot shooting in the fourth quarter, scoring twenty seven more points while holding the Pirates to ten.   The Gamecocks shot seventy two percent in the second half in rout to the final score of 86-48, which looked a lot easier that it actually was for South Carolina.  Hampton, in playing a tough schedule that included #8 Texas, undefeated Oregon, defending CAA champion James Madison and Iowa State, held their own for a good thirty minutes.

Coming off her triple double against Winthrop, Coates had to settle for a double double with twenty two points and twelve rebounds.  Sarah Imovbioh added nineteen points and seven rebounds, while Mitchell chipped in with seventeen points and six rebounds.  South Carolina nearly had as many offensive rebounds, eighteen, as Hampton had total rebounds, nineteen.  The Gamecocks outrebounded the Pirates 52-19.  Tate-DeFreitas led the Pirates with fourteen while Ryan Jordan had nine points.

South Carolina takes their 10-0 record on the road to East Carolina for a game in Myrtle Beach on Sunday, before one last home non conference game against Elon next week before SEC conference play starts in the new year.   They certainly should have Wilson back by conference play.

By resting Wilson,  Staley has been able to reach into her bench and ten of her players played eight minutes or more last night.  That will give them experience heading into SEC games where four of the other teams are ranked; #8 Kentucky, #9 Mississippi State, #14 Tennessee and #18 Texas A&M.  Plus you have 10-0 Missouri, 9-1 Georgia, 9-1 Florida and 8-2 Vanderbilt waiting for the Gamecocks as well.

Hope Wilson has got a lot of rest.  She's going to need it come January.

Coates Triple Double Leads Gamecocks in Downing Winthrop

Entering Sunday's play against Winthrop, undefeated South Carolina had faced a pretty tough schedule in their first month and a half into the 2015-16 season.   The Gamecocks have played four games against nationally ranked opponents; a opening day 88-80 win over #10 Ohio State, a 68-65 win at #20 UCLA, a 60-58 win over #24 Arizona State in Hawaii and a 66-54 win over #13 Duke.

So it stood to reason that 8-0 South Carolina would sooner or later have a home non conference women's basketball game against a less formidable foe.   Thus the likely guaranteed game vs. Big South opponent Winthrop yesterday at the Colonial Life Arena.   But no matter who the opponent is on the court, the fans in Columbia love to turn out in droves for their #2 nationally ranked Gamecocks.  13,409 of them to be exact.  

Fans were a little concerned when they saw A'ja Wilson in warmup clothes quietly walking the court, shaking hands with referees before the game, as her teammates practiced on their side of the hardwood.  Wilson is day to day with "nagging injuries" and her status for Wednesday's home game against another non conference opponent in Hampton.

But the fans did not need to worry because the rest of the Gamecocks came to play.  And Alaina Coates gave everyone in the crowd a reason to go home happy after the game.

It was nice to be back in Colonial Life Arena.   It was my first live game of the college basketball season and it was good to have my older son Matthew with me as well.  As we got to our season ticket seats in section 115, I immediately got a text from my friend Toisha.  Her son Bryson, who is a good friend of Matthew's, along with being his baseball teammate, had spotted us going down to our seats from their section, three sections over.  I knew what would we be doing at halftime. 

From the tipoff it was clearly apparent that Winthrop had no answer for the Gamecocks size.  Even without the six foot four Wilson, the other six footers in South Carolina's lineup; the junior Coates, graduate transfer senior Sarah Imovbioh, senior Asia Dozier and sophomore Jatarie White were dominant all game long.  The Gamecocks had sixteen blocks on the game and outrebounded the Eagles 48-32.  

One of the things I have to get used to now in women's college basketball is that the game is broken up into quarters.   At least for yesterday's game, it made the game seem quicker.   It could have also been the fact that the Gamecocks came out strong in the first quarter, taking a 26-7 lead after the first ten minutes.   

And it wasn't like Dawn Staley kept the starters in for the entire first quarter.  After a few minutes, Staley did a hockey line change, taking out four of her starters.   It didn't matter who was on the court for South Carolina.  They were relentless and fun, especially watching sophomore guard Bianca Cuevas.  The Bronx, New York native is a five foot six dynamo who often flies the court with seemingly reckless abandon.  

One particular highlight in the game was Cuevas driving strong to the basket and then took an offense balance layup where the ball arched high off the backboard and into the basket.  Staley had a sheepish grin on her face knowing it might not have been the most fundamentally sound basketball move, but you have to let Cuevas be Cuevas.

There was no let up by South Carolina in the second quarter, as they outscored Winthrop 21-6.  Along with Cuevas' circus shot layup, the other highlight of the first half was Coates blocking back to back Eagles' shots.  Then after the second block, Coates grabbed the ball and fired an outlet pass.  This lead to a Gamecocks' fast break basket and had the fans roaring in approval.  South Carolina was up 47-13 at the half.

At halftime, Matthew and I made our way to our friends over at section 118.  There was a group of seats open in front of the row Toisha and Bryson were sitting at.  Bryson quickly joined Matt in the row and a few minutes later were going around the arena, including hanging out with Cocky, the Gamecocks' mascot.  The two partners in crime were having fun and that's all that matters.

Three words described the second half of play - "Rinse, Lather, Repeat".  The Gamecocks came out of the locker room after halftime and continued to roll.  What I love about Staley's game plan, and she's not shy about it, is that the Gamecocks work the ball inside to Coates and then it's either a shot at the basket or when the defense converges, she kicks it out to open players on the wing.  The Gamecocks shot 9 of 24 from outside the arc, a respectable 37.5 percent.  It's simple fundamental basketball that works. 

Coates would shoot a ridiculous 13 of 15 from the field and hit three of her five free throws from the line.   She already had a double double easily into the third quarter as she had six offensive rebounds on the game.  

The Gamecocks were up 80-32 with about five minutes left in the game.  The Gamecocks had all their reserves in with the exception of one person;  Coates.  And there was a reason for that.  Coates had a chance to get a triple double in the game with one more block.  She got that with just a few seconds left in the game for her first career triple double; 29 points,16 rebounds and 10 blocks.  

For my first live game of my tenth year of covering men's and women's college basketball, I got to see one of the best overall performances in those ten years.  Coates was clearly the best player on the court on Sunday, leading her team to a 86-37 drubbing of Winthrop.

Coates is on a serious roll, having hit 20 of her last 24 shots (she was 7 of 9 vs. Duke).  She is shooting sixty seven percent from the field on the season. And Coates is only the third leading scorer for South Carolina on the season (Wilson averages 18 points per game, Tiffany Mitchell averages 13 points per game).

Something tells me Wilson will get another day of rest on Wednesday in the Gamecocks next home game vs. Hampton.  As South Carolina fans now know, Coates has got her covered.

Gamecocks' Balance, Size and Depth Too Much for Aggies

In the span of a little more than forty eight hours, Colonial Life Arena was the center of the men's and women's basketball universe and ESPN, with two games featuring #1 ranked, undefeated teams.  On Saturday at noon, the South Carolina men's team hosted #1 Kentucky in front of a sold out crowd of 18,000.   On Monday night, the #1 ranked South Carolina women's team hosted #12 Texas A&M.

On Saturday, The Wildcats were too much for the Gamecocks on Saturday.   Kentucky's size thwarted any inside play that South Carolina could muster and the Gamecocks outside shooting woes continued in a Wildcats 58-43 victory.

South Carolina fans were looking for revenge on Monday night and they again proved why the Gamecocks are #10 in the country in women's basketball attendance.  13,546 strong came out Monday night for the nationally televised ESPN game.   The lower bowl of the arena was completely full and the upper bowl was about 1/4 full.  It made for a loud and fun atmosphere, especially when you had Baseline Jesus running around the arena, pumping up the crowd.  The fans were eager to see their Gamecocks dominate the Aggies.

The Aggies however are one of the few teams that can match the size of Dawn Staley's Gamecocks, who have four players six foot four or taller; Alaina Coates, A'ja Wilson, Elem Ibiam and Jatarie White.   Texas A&M has a six foot seven center in junior Rachel Mitchell, a six foot five freshman in Khaalia Hillsman and six foot three Jada Terry.

Thus the Aggies were able to trade blows with the physical Gamecocks for the first twelve minutes. Hillsman hit a layup to put Texas A&M up 24-20.  The South Carolina fans were starting to get restless.

Then just like that, the Gamecocks came alive.  They went on a 14-0 run over the next four and half plus minutes.  It was sparked by the six foot four freshman guard Wilson.   Yes, Wilson is listed as a guard and she drives and runs the court like a guard.  Wilson had four points and an assist during that span.  Her assist on an Ibiam layup capped the run and put the Gamecocks up 34-24.

One possession late in the first half showed how difficult it is to match-up with South Carolina due to their size and relentlessness. Aleighsa Welch missed a short jumper.  Wilson grabbed the offensive rebound and missed the putback. Coates got the rebound and missed a putback.  Welch got the rebound and put it back in for a layup and a 39-29 lead.   I turned to my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew and said "Four for a quarter".

The Gamecocks would end up leading at halftime 39-31.   At halftime, the University celebrated all its 3.0 scholar athletes with a parade around the court of all the players on the teams with a grade point average of 3.0 or higher.    After the parade, there wasn't enough time left for the usual Cocky dance with the kids, since they couldn't assemble the kids that quickly after the parade.  Thus Cocky was left to dance with himself and you could dance in your seats with Cocky.  Matthew had no interest in dancing to the Chicken Dance in his seat.

The Gamecocks must have left their shooting touch in the locker room at halftime.  South Carolina failed to score a basket over nearly the first five and half minutes in the second half.   They only scored one point on a free throw over the first three minutes.

Meanwhile, Jordan Jones was going to work for the Aggies.   She scored five points during this span, including a three pointer to cut the Gamecocks lead to 40-38.   The South Carolina faithful starting getting antsy as the Gamecocks lead was being challenged.


South Carolina answered the bell.   Tiffany Mitchell was able to get to the foul line in the Gamecocks' next two possessions. She nailed all four free throws to put South Carolina up six, 44-38.  Mitchell then found Welch on a nice pass for a layup for the first basket for the Gamecocks in the second half.  Then Coates made two free throws to put South Carolina back up ten 48-38.

Courtney Walker would hit two jumpers in a row to get Texas A&M back within six, 48-42.  But after that, the Gamecocks clamped down on the Aggies.  Over the span of the next six and a half minutes, South Carolina held Texas A&M to two free throws and a layup.  Meanwhile, the Gamecocks did a great job of sharing the basketball, with assists on four baskets during the span.  The small but feisty point guard Bianca Cuevas capped the the 19-4 Gamecocks' run with a layup to put South Carolina up 67-46 with 6:46 left in the game.

From there, Texas A&M had no choice to try to slow the game down by fouling.  Ten of the last twelve Gamecocks points came on free throws.  Despite slowing the game down, the Aggies could not get any closer than eighteen points the rest of the way.  And that was the final score margin as South Carolina won convincingly 79-61.

The Aggies were held to thirty eight percent from the field and they were fortunate they shot that well.   Texas A&M's second leading scorer on the season, Courtney Williams was 3 for 21 from the field.   The Aggies leading scorer on the season, Courtney Walker,  was held four points under her season average of fourteen.   South Carolina out-rebounded Texas A&M 43-29.

The Gamecocks shot forty nine percent from the field and eighty percent from the line (24 of 30).  Four players scored in double figures for South Carolina;  Wilson led the way off the bench with eighteen points and nearly had a double double as she grabbed nine rebounds.  Mitchell added sixteen points.  Coates had a double double with twelve points and eleven rebounds and Welch added twelve points and seven rebounds.

Unlike Saturday, the Gamecock crowd went home happy.  Their #1 team again showed their dominance against a very good SEC opponent.  A lot of talk around the college basketball world is whether the Kentucky men's team can go through the season undefeated or at least through the SEC conference.

After last night's performance at Colonial Life Arena, I expect the same talk to pick up about the South Carolina women's team.

Yes, they're that dominant.

A Balanced South Carolina Bounces Back With Win over UNC Asheville

South Carolina appeared to have a good opportunity for success in the Charleston Classic Tournament.  They handily won their first game over Cornell 69-45.  In the second game, they were up twelve on Charlotte, 30-18 in the first half and seemed to be on their way to the championship game.   But it went all downhill from there.

Charlotte rallied from that deficit and took the lead late in the second half.  The Gamecocks rallied to tie the game at 63 with a little less than two minutes left in the game and had a chance to take the lead. The 49ers made two free throws and held off the Gamecocks 65-63. 

Then South Carolina faced Akron in the third place game, a team the Gamecocks handily beat twice last season; a ten point win in the Diamond Head classic and a thirty point regular season game blowout a few days later.  This time was different.  The Zips controlled most of the game, even going up by twelve points early in the second half.  South Carolina rallied to tie the game late but eventually lost to Akron 68-63.

Thus the Gamecocks came home with a losing record from Charleston, 2-3 on the season.  They were hoping Wednesday night that the Bulldogs of UNC Asheville would be the cure to their ailing woes, specifically in the three point shooting department.  In their losses to Charlotte and Akron, South Carolina shot a combined five of twenty eight from beyond the arc (eighteen percent).   However, the Gamecocks would have to play the Bulldogs without their starting forward Michael Carrera who suffered a concussion and a sprained ankle in practice during the week.

Since it was Thanksgiving Eve, which is what many call the biggest night out of the year, and students were off on break,  the Colonial Life Arena was not as filled as usual.  In fact, it was the smallest crowd of the men's or women's basketball seasons so far, with 8223 only in attendance.  Three of those people in attendance were my friend Ian McCormick, veteran Mid Majority writer, who sat with my color analyst, aka my older son Matthew and me.

Those in attendance saw the Gamecocks continue their struggles early on, as the Bulldogs came out firing, well more specifically, Andrew Rowsey came out firing.   Rowsey scored eight quick points, two on three pointers and he assisted on a three pointer by Kem Ubaru.  UNC Asheville was up 12-6 a little more than five minutes into the contest.

This was not the first time I had seen the sophomore Rowsey (#15 in the pictures) play in person.   Last season, I watched Rowsey light up the College of Charleston at TD Arena, as he lead his team to a 67-58 overtime victory over the Cougars.  Rowsey scored twenty three points on eight of eleven shooting, including three from beyond the arc.  Rowsey is an exciting player to watch.  He is quick, has incredibly long range, very accurate shooter (shoots forty six percent from three ) and is not shy about launching a three.

The Gamecocks would respond with a 7-1 mini spurt to tie the game at thirteen.  The Gamecocks tied the game on a three pointer by Justin McKie, a sophomore who has worked his way into the rotation with his solid play.  

After Ubaru put the Bulldogs back up one, 14-13, hitting one of his two free throw attempts, South Carolina would again go on a spurt, this time a 14-0 run over nearly four minutes.  Freshman Marcus Stroman would cap the rally with a layup that resulted in a three point play.  Stroman's free throw gave the Gamecocks a 27-14 lead. 

However, the Bulldogs would respond, again led by Rowsey and a couple of turnovers by Stroman.  Rowsey's two three pointers would ignite an 11-3 UNC Asheville run.  Rowsey's fourth three pointer on the day made the score 30-25 South Carolina with 6:43 left.    The Gamecocks would extend the lead a little going into halftime, 37-29.

The first half was somewhat sloppy, as both teams combined for sixteen turnovers.  As for the Gamecocks, that meant Frank Martin was particularly unhappy on the night.  And unfortunately for South Carolina, the sloppy play would continue into the second half, making Coach Martin REALLY unhappy.

After Tyrone Johnson hit a layup to extend the Gamecocks' lead to ten, 39-29, the Bulldogs responded with five points as Rowsey assisted again on a Ubaru three pointer, then hit a layup of his own to make the score 39-34.  

Then the turnover fest really went into high gear.  Over the first six minutes of the second half, both teams combined for eight turnovers.  This allowed UNC Asheville to hang around in the game.  After hitting another three pointer, his fifth of the game, Rowsey hit two free throws to keep the Bulldogs within ten, 53-43.

But with about twelve and half minutes left in the game, Rowsey was then called for an offensive foul, his fourth.  Rowsey, who had twenty three points at the time,  was forced to go to the bench.  Once Rowsey left the game, UNC Asheville was done.

The Gamecocks took advantage, outscoring the Bulldogs 19-9 over the next seven minutes. This included a span of three plus minutes where the Bulldogs didn't score a point.  A Sindarius Thornwell dunk gave South Carolina a 72-52 lead with a little under six minutes left in the game.

Rowsey would re-enter the game and cut the lead to fourteen, 72-58 with his sixth three pointer of the game.  But the damage had already been done and the Bulldogs would not get closer the rest of the game.   In a high scoring second half, where both teams would combine for nearly one hundred points, the Gamecocks would go on for the 89-75 win.  

Despite the twenty turnovers on the game, there were some bright spots for South Carolina.   The team did have twenty one assists, six by Stroman and six by Thornwell.  The Gamecocks shot eight of seventeen from beyond the arc.  And there was a concerted effort to have balanced scoring, especially working the ball into the USC bigs.  Chatkevicus scored a career high seventeen points and had his first career double double with thirteen rebounds, shooting six of eleven from the field.   He also buried two three pointers, also the first two of his career.

Demetrius Henry had fifteen points on six of eleven shooting.  The Carolina bigs combined to shoot fourteen of twenty six from the field.   Tyrone Johnson, Thornwell and Duane Notice each had twelve points as all five starters scored in double figures.  McKie chipped in with eight points in only thirteen minutes of action.  Finally, USC shot nineteen of twenty six from the charity stripe.

Rowsey led all scorers with thirty points on ten of eighteen shooting from the field, including six of twelve from beyond the arc.  David Robertson was the only other Bulldog in double figures with fifteen as he hit five of nine shots from beyond the arc.   The rest of UNC Asheville shot an unseemly eight of thirty five from the field (twenty three percent).  Ubaru particularly had a rough night shooting two of eleven from the field, though he hit both of his three point attempts.

The Gamecocks next game is on the road vs. Marshall Sunday, December 1st.  It will be USC's first real road game of the season.  In fact it will be their first game outside the state of South Carolina after three home games and three neutral site games in Charleston.  This will be a good test for the Gamecocks as the Thundering Herd are in the top twenty five in the country in rebounding and assists.    South Carolina will again need balance and better ball handling to prevail.