As Mississippi State looms, Gamecocks can’t afford to look past Auburn, Staley says
Who: No. 14 South Carolina (20-7, 12-2 SEC) vs. Auburn (20-7, 8-6 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 28
Where: Auburn Arena, Auburn, Alabama
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Radio: 1320 AM in Columbia area
Series history: South Carolina leads the all-time series, 23-21, and has won eight in a row over Auburn. The Tigers’ last victory over the Gamecocks came in 2012 at Auburn Arena.
Last meeting: The two teams last met in January 2018, with the Gamecocks overcoming 20 turnovers to defeat the Tigers, 71-63, holding off a second-half rally.
Projections: South Carolina is favored by 6 points by basketball bracketologist Warren Nolan, 6.5 points by Massey Ratings.
South Carolina projected starting lineup: Junior guard Tyasha Harris, senior guard Donyiah Cliney, redshirt senior guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore, redshirt senior forward Alexis Jennings, junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan
Auburn projected starting lineup: Senior guard Janiah McKay, redshirt junior guard Crystal Primm, junior guard Dasia Alexander, freshman forward/guard Erin Howard, sophomore forward Unique Thompson
STORYLINES
Handling Auburn’s press: In their loss to Kentucky a week ago, the Gamecocks turned the ball over 21 times, their highest total in SEC play. Auburn averages nearly that many turnovers forced per game — 20.78, a top-10 mark in the country. Opponents cough up the ball to the Tigers on a quarter of their possessions, according to Her Hoop Stats.
So hanging onto it against Auburn’s vaunted press defense is obviously high on USC’s list of concerns.
“We practiced it today, we did pretty good with the press. It’s been good, we’ve been moving the ball,” senior guard Donyiah Cliney said.
The key, coach Dawn Staley said, will be Carolina’s own defensive pressure preventing Auburn from making many shots and having the time to set itself on defense.
“If we face it, I think we’ll have the personnel in there that can execute and break it and maybe get some good shots out of it,” Staley said.
Keeping McKay in check: Auburn’s leading scorer, senior guard Janiah McKay put up 27 points on South Carolina last season, including 11 from the free throw line. She’s averaging more than 13 points and two steals per game this year. At 5-foot-6 with elite explosiveness, she’ll likely have quite the battle with USC’s own small speedster, Bianca Cuevas-Moore.
“She’s speed. She’s been around and she knows our league better than anybody,” Staley said of McKay. “If you look at the game from last year, she had 27 on us. We gotta do a better job of not giving her scoring opportunities in her sweet spots.”
Not looking ahead: After Auburn, South Carolina returns home for the biggest game of the year to date — a contest with Mississippi State, likely with a share of the SEC regular season title on the line.
But USC remains focused on Auburn, Staley said, and for a reason that go beyond the usual “one game at a time” mantra; the Gamecocks are far from locked into a top-16 seed in the NCAA tournament and the hosting rights that come with it.
“Our administrators have done a tremendous job at securing a home court advantage for us in the first and second round,” Staley said. “We don’t want that to go to waste, we don’t want anybody’s work to go to waste. We’re playing to play in Charlotte, and we don’t want to leave it up to anybody saying we were given this or that. You have to earn every single thing that you get.”
Injury report: South Carolina’s leading scorer, junior guard Te’a Cooper, will not play as she recovers from a sprained ankle suffered against Kentucky last Thursday. She is progressing well in her recovery, Staley said.
