Keeping composure key for South Carolina rivalry game with Mizzou, Dawn Staley says

Who: No. 15 South Carolina (12-5, 4-1 SEC) vs. Missouri (15-4, 4-1 SEC)

When: 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 21

Where: Colonial Life Arena

Watch: ESPN2

Last meeting: The Gamecocks and the Tigers played last Jan. 28 at Colonial Life Arena in a 64-54 USC win that was overshadowed by a small scuffle during the game and allegations of fan misconduct after it.

South Carolina projected starting lineup: Junior guard Tyasha Harris, redshirt junior guard Te’a Cooper, redshirt senior guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore, redshirt senior forward Alexis Jennings, junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan

Missouri projected starting lineup: Senior guard Sophie Cunningham, junior guard Amber Smith, redshirt senior guard Lauren Aldridge, junior guard Jordan Roundtree, redshirt junior forward Hannah Schuchts

STORYLINES

Keeping composure: There’s been months of controversy and bad blood brewing between the two programs, or at least their two fanbases, but South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and Mizzou coach Robin Pingeton have been working to move the focus away from the off-court drama and back onto the game.

Still, there’s no denying that Missouri likes to play a physical brand of basketball that can frustrate or even anger opponents. And because of that, Staley said she has spoken with her players about keeping their tempers no matter what happens Monday.

In particular, Staley said she was pleased with how junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan has stayed composed in intense situations this year after struggling with them in her first few seasons.

“(Herbert Harrigan) is someone that has made a conscious effort to keep her composure. I’m really really proud of what she’s done in a lot of heated situations. Things that are happening to us out there on the floor aren’t being called like it was happening to her, so I’m happy about that, because that is something that she’s worked at and we’ve worked with her to get better at,” Staley said.

Shutting down Sophie: Star guard Sophie Cunningham does it all for Mizzou, averaging 15.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 38.2 percent from 3. An All-American talent who can score from all levels and get her teammates involved as well, Cunningham will be main target of South Carolina’s defensive focus. How do the Gamecocks hope to slow her down?

“You try to make her work for her catches. You try to contest all of her shots, you try to make her play on both sides of the ball. You just try to limit her touches to be effective,” Staley said. “That’s hard. She knows how to move around on the floor. She knows how to get herself in position to score or pass for her teammates to score.”

“Her playing hard and her making shots and making her other teammates better, so we just gotta cut down on what she can do and make her teammates score more,” junior guard Tyasha Harris said. “We just have to not anticipate what they’re going to do and try to play her straight up and be a little physical without fouling.”

Moving on from Mississippi State: The Gamecocks have had several days now to look back on their loss to Mississippi State from Thursday and process what it means for the rest of their season.

USC now stands tied with Mizzou for second place in the SEC behind Mississippi State, and another loss would severely damage Carolina’s hopes for a regular season title. The Gamecocks still have tough road contests at Kentucky, Tennessee and Auburn ahead, so maintaining a perfect record at home is crucial, Staley said.

“We have to take care of home. You’re gonna drop a game or two on the road. Home is where the heart is and home is where you have to take care of, especially in our league,” Staley said.

As for the emotional toll of playing high-level rivalry games back-to-back, Harris said the team’s performance against MSU actually helped.

“After us losing, I think we were OK. We wanted to win, but we were OK because we know that we can compete at that level and everyone else has seen now we can compete at that level, so it’s a regular basketball game to us,” Harris said.