USC women’s basketball SEC schedule drops. Here’s when Miss. State, Mizzou are coming
The SEC released the 2018-2019 conference schedule for women’s basketball on Thursday, and South Carolina will host Missouri, Mississippi State and Georgia while visiting Tennessee, LSU and Kentucky, among other marquee matchups in the 16-game slate.
USC’s conference opener will come against Texas A&M for the second consecutive season, with the Gamecocks traveling to College Station for a Jan. 3 contest.
Two weeks later, Dawn Staley’s squad will return to Starkville, Mississippi, to face defending regular season champ MSU, at Humphrey Coliseum. South Carolina dropped a back-and-forth contest there last season.
Immediately after that game, Carolina will return to Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 21 to host Missouri, a preseason contender for the conference championship with whom the Gamecocks share some bad blood after plenty of off-court drama surrounding last season’s game in Columbia, South Carolina.
On Jan. 31, the Gamecocks travel to Kentucky to renew their usually heated rivalry with the Wildcats.
On Valentine’s Day, USC will host rival Georgia at CLA, three days after it plays perennial national title contender Connecticut on the road.
In late February, two powerhouse programs will square off when Tennessee hosts South Carolina in Knoxville. Staley and her team will then get an early start on March Madness by hosting Mississippi State on March 3.
South Carolina has yet to announce its full nonconference schedule, but all but two of those games have been announced by other programs — highlights include the UConn game, an SEC/Big 12 Challenge contest with Baylor, a potential Thanksgiving weekend showdown with defending national champion Notre Dame and a road contest at Duke.
SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL SCHEDULE
*Home games in bold, two games still unannounced
Sun. Nov. 11 — at Alabama State
Thurs., Nov. 15 — Clemson
Sun., Nov. 18 — Maryland
Thurs.-Sat., Nov. 22-24 — Vancouver Showcase
East Tennessee
Oregon State OR Western Kentucky
Notre Dame OR Gonzaga OR Drake OR Rutgers
Sun., Dec. 2 — Baylor
Thurs., Dec. 5 — Appalachian State
Sun., Dec. 9 — at Duke
Sun., Dec. 16 — at Purdue
Fri., Dec. 21 — Temple
Thurs., Jan. 3 — at Texas A&M
Sun., Jan. 6 — Alabama
Thu., Jan. 10 — Florida
Sun., Jan. 13 — at LSU
Thu., Jan. 17 — at Mississippi State
Mon., Jan. 21 — Missouri
Mon., Jan. 28 — Vanderbilt
Thu., Jan. 31 — at Kentucky
Sun., Feb. 3 — at Arkansas
Thu., Feb. 7 — Ole Miss
Mon., Feb. 11 — at UConn
Thu., Feb. 14 — Georgia
Sun., Feb. 17 — at Florida
Thu., Feb. 21 — Kentucky
Sun., Feb. 24 — at Tennessee
Thu., Feb. 28 — at Auburn
Sun., Mar. 3 — Mississippi State
This story was originally published August 23, 2018 at 2:40 PM.