Gamecocks prepare for ‘more seasoned’ Purdue team that pushed USC to limit last year
The last time South Carolina women’s basketball and Purdue met, the Gamecocks got a heart-pounding thriller before escaping their first double-overtime game since 1991 with a win.
When the two teams clash again this Sunday, No. 5 USC will be looking for a far less exciting game.
“Double overtime,” senior guard Tyasha Harris said of her main memories for the 2018 contest. “And that it was close to (my) home, so that was fun too. But definitely the double overtime and how physical they play, and that they’re not going to back down, they’re going to bring it all 40 minutes, so kinda just keeping the pace in that area.”
The Gamecock squad that will take the floor at Colonial Life Arena this weekend will be far different from the one that played in West Lafayette, Indiana, a year ago, with outgoing transfers and incoming freshmen creating a new culture and even higher outside expectations.
The Purdue team, however will be almost exactly the same — the Boilermakers return all of their starters and their top five bench players from a season ago, when they went 19-15 and missed the postseason. That returning depth jumped out to Carolina coach Dawn Staley as she watched film.
“They’re better. They’re more seasoned. They look like they play together a little bit better. They’re more efficient. Each and every player that you saw last year, they’ve gotten better. They got their entire stating lineup, they’ve been mixing some lineups up. They look better. The fat’s been trimmed off each and every player so they’re more lean, and we got a game on our hands,” Staley said.
Specifically, Staley praised Purdue’s “methodical” offense that works the shot clock and gets to the free throw line consistently. According to Her Hoop Stats, the Boilermakers rank 283rd in the nation in pace of play and 83rd in free throw trips.
South Carolina has already been upset once this season by a veteran team from Indiana, losing to the Hoosiers on Thanksgiving. Since then, however, the Gamecocks have won three in a row and are entering one of the most important times of the season in Staley’s mind, as exams end and players get the chance to focus exclusively on basketball for a while.
“I’m looking forward to the break, because some of them can just really concentrate on basketball. I think I’m looking more toward (freshman forward Laeticia Amihere) just being able to get out there, because she’s really into her academics, that takes up a lot of space, so hopefully she can just relax a little bit and work on keep knocking the rust off.”
For the highly-touted freshman class in particular, between the five-game road stretch and the first experience of finals, the past few weeks have been challenging.
“I think we grow up after every game, win or lose, we learn something from it. They’re doing a great job. They’re going through a rough patch because of the finals, but they’re balancing it really well,” Harris said.
And what gives Staley confidence that they’ll continue to come through this stretch well has as much to do with off-court maturity as on-court skill.
“What probably separates the freshmen is they don’t let bad games, whatever it is, bad shooting nights, missed assignments, they just turn the page. And if a bad game does bother them, they get it out, they communicate. So I’m really pleased by them being able to approach whatever emotions they’re having, give it that attention and then they move on,” Staley said.
NEXT
Who: No. 5 South Carolina (9-1) vs. Purdue (7-2)
When: 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 15
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
This story was originally published December 14, 2019 at 12:15 PM.
