A little rust, but no fear of a trap game for USC and Dawn Staley as they host Vandy
Who: No. 19 South Carolina (13-5, 5-1 SEC) vs. Vanderbilt (6-13, 1-5 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Monday, Jan. 28
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia
Watch: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
Series history: Vandy owns the all-time edge against South Carolina, having won 21 of the teams’ 36 meetings. Under Dawn Staley, however, Carolina has won nine consecutive games in the series.
Last meeting: Playing at Vanderbilt last season without star A’ja Wilson, the Gamecocks steadily pulled away from the Commodores for a 95-82 win, USC’s highest point total in conference play. Alexis Jennings led the way with 27 points and 13 rebounds.
Projections: South Carolina favored by 18 points by basketball bracketologist Warren Nolan, 18.5 points by Massey Ratings
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
Vanderbilt projected starting lineup: Junior guard Cierra Walker, junior guard Lealea Carter, junior guard Kaleigh Clemons-Green, sophomore forward Autumn Newby, redshirt junior forward Mariella Fasoulla
STORYLINES
Rust-busting: After a pair of rivalry games with Mississippi State and Missouri, the Gamecocks got the past week off, their longest break of the season not centered around exams.
Dawn Staley wasn’t a huge fan.
“I think it breaks up your flow of what you do. (You) get a chance to rest a little bit. I think we took two days off, one more than we usually take,” Staley said.
“I think we let our guard down a little bit. As much as you try to fight them as coaches, players, their bodies know when they don’t have to prep for a game.”
As a result, Staley said her team showed flashes of strong play in practice on Sunday but also endured stretches of poor focus — such stretches have stymied USC in certain games this year.
“I think they understand that the energy level wasn’t high (in practice) ... I like a loud gym, I like energy in the gym and I like to end practices early, especially the day before a game,” Staley said. “The focus was there, the energy wasn’t.”
Avoiding a trap game: While Staley wasn’t thrilled with her team’s practices during the week off, she does like where Carolina is as a whole at this point in the year, approaching the midway point in conference play.
“I think we’re starting to hit our stride. Players are really trusting each other. They’re moving the ball extremely well and we’re able to play a lot of different combinations and do a lot of different things from an offensive and defensive standpoint,” Staley said.
Monday’s game is not expected to be close — Vanderbilt has a 1-17 record in SEC road games under coach Stephanie White, the third-worst scoring margin in the conference and just one win this year against a high-major opponent this year.
But it will give South Carolina the opportunity to work out some kinks before it travels Sunday to face Kentucky, arguably the team’s biggest threat for second place in the SEC. Despite that, Staley isn’t worried about Vandy becoming a potential trap game.
“I think we respect everyone in our conference, obviously,” Staley said. “We played a pretty tough schedule from November on to here, and we really haven’t had a decent break. And our SEC schedule, we really didn’t have any breaks because we played during our breaks, so it’s a little bit different preparation. But we just tried to just simulate games as much as possible in practice.”
Harris heating up: Point guard Tyasha Harris set the program record for assists in a season last year, but she started this season slowly, averaging 9.3 points and 3.5 assists per game through the first six contests. In the last 12, she’s averaged 11 points and 4.75 helpers. In the most recent four, she has averaged 12.25 points and 5.5 assists while shooting 47.6 percent from 3.
The resurgence of Harris, a team captain, goes hand in hand with the development of the team as a whole, Staley said. As a distributor, the junior struggled to adjust early as Staley and the squad searched for reliable scoring options and lineups. Once that happened, Harris settled in.
“I wanted her to be a shoot-first point guard, and then feel everybody else out. But you have to let someone like Ty take her time, because if she changed who she was early on, maybe she won’t be playing as well as she’s playing today,” Staley said. “We got through the first part of the season. Now she’s got a really good grip on the team and where she needs to impose her will at different times, especially offensively.”
This story was originally published January 28, 2019 at 8:10 AM.
