Gamecocks women could go four-guard if A’ja Wilson can’t play

First, A’ja Wilson is progressing and remains day-to-day. She was able to run full-speed for a bit during Wednesday’s practice and they’ll continue to evaluate her.

Second, and most importantly – fifth-ranked South Carolina knows what lies ahead on Monday. Top-five home matchups within the conference don’t exactly arrive unnoticed.

That’s Monday. On Thursday, Ole Miss comes to town.

“We’ve never been a team that’s overlooked anybody,” coach Dawn Staley said. “I think Alaina (Coates) just chimed in, ‘That’s not who we are.’ Our kids aren’t sophisticated enough to think ahead to a game.”

The Gamecocks are fully prepared to hear all the hype next week but the Rebels are their only attention this week. Ole Miss has great athletes, a scoring threat added to the team just in time for SEC play (former Pac-12 Freshman of the Year Chrishae Rowe) and while they lost to Mississippi State last time out, it was only by 11 points on the Bulldogs’ floor.

The game before that, they beat Tennessee.

Wilson is working her way back to the court but there’s no telling when she’ll return. The Gamecocks are prepared to go with what worked so well at LSU Sunday – a four-guard starting lineup with point guards Ty Harris and Bianca Cuevas-Moore on the floor together, and Allisha Gray sliding to Wilson’s power forward spot.

Gray won’t be posting up and playing back-to-the-basket, but she’s unafraid to mix it up with opposing posts. She scored 21 points against the Tigers.

“Me going to the 4, it was no different than me being a guard,” Gray said. “If I have to, I will, but it’ll be nice to have A’ja back on the court. We just basically need to step up and play because having A’ja out was a big miss to the team.”

It was a stronger, more experienced starting lineup that overcame LSU despite the Tigers being red-hot from the field. “I like the small lineup,” Staley said. “It gives us some versatility and it gives us an opportunity to look different.”

If Wilson can play, terrific. But the Gamecocks are always adding looks and sets to make it difficult for the next opponent. Whether that’s Ole Miss Thursday or Mississippi State Monday, it can help USC win.

“I never would have played Allisha at the 4, at all,” Staley said. “But she doesn’t mind competing and fighting with the opposing post players. It’s given us a different look that I’m encouraged by what’s taking place.”

This story was originally published January 18, 2017 at 3:33 PM with the headline "Gamecocks women could go four-guard if A’ja Wilson can’t play."