As conference play begins, here’s where South Carolina and the rest of the SEC stand
The South Carolina women’s basketball team kicks off a new year and a new decade Thursday with its first SEC game of the season, hosting No. 13 Kentucky to start its quest for another conference title.
With four regular season championships and two second-place finishes over the past six years, the Gamecocks are expected to once again feature prominently near the top of the league standings in 2020. With the 16-game gauntlet looming, here’s where things stand for South Carolina’s top SEC foes and the Gamecocks themselves.
Trending up: Arkansas, Tennessee, LSU
Arkansas entered this past offseason with a surge of momentum highlighted by an SEC tournament upset of South Carolina. The Razorbacks rode that to a 12-1 nonconference record against a very easy schedule, as coach Mike Neighbors seemed to align the slate to give his young team confidence and winning experience. They’re led by one of the league’s best guards, Chelsea Dungee, who averages 20.1 points per game.
Tennessee, playing its first season under coach Kellie Harper, always had the talent to be good. The Lady Vols needed a reset though, and thus far Harper seems to have given them that. An early win over Notre Dame doesn’t look quite so good now that the Irish have cratered, and losses to Texas and Stanford mean that the Lady Vols have yet to record a really great win. All told, things are starting to look up in Knoxville after several underwhelming, frustrating seasons.
Speaking of teams that underwhelmed last year, LSU flopped down the stretch of 2018-19 to miss the NCAA tournament, losing its last four games. The Tigers are off to a good start this year, though, at 10-2 with wins over Rutgers, Michigan State and Florida Gulf Coast. A solid SEC season should have Nikki Fargas’ team back in the tournament for the first time in three years.
Trending down: Mississippi State, Texas A&M, Missouri
The race to the top of the SEC seemed to be extremely even to start the year — USC, Mississippi State and Texas A&M all started in the AP and coaches polls’ top 10.
Heading into 2020, only one of those teams is still in the upper echelon: South Carolina. While the Gamecocks picked up big wins against highly-rated opponents in nonconference play, the Bulldogs and the Aggies missed their chances, losing to Stanford and Florida State, respectively. They’re by no means out of the hunt or bad squads, but a lack of top-line wins is keeping them distinctly behind the Gamecocks for the time being.
Missouri, meanwhile, was expected to struggle in the first year of the post-Sophie Cunningham era. Even so, the Tigers’ 3-10 start has been brutal — and undoubtedly a source of delight for USC fans who have no love lost for a program that became one of Carolina’s biggest rivals in the last few years. This year’s game should be extremely one-sided.
Holding steady: Kentucky
The Wildcats entered the season ranked No. 13 in the AP preseason poll and will begin conference play in that exact same spot. UK lost a star player in Maci Morris but have maintained one of the top spots in the league thanks to the continued emergence of do-everything sophomore Rhyne Howard, who averages 20.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game with a usage rate of 35.5%, 12th in the country, and an effective field goal percentage of 50.1%.
How far Kentucky can ride Howard is still to be seen, but the Wildcats did give top-10 Louisville a serious scare in a 67-66 defeat. Their schedule beyond that matchup, however, has been pretty easy.
Where USC stands: SEC favorite
As the highest-ranked team in the conference, South Carolina had the two biggest wins of any SEC team in nonconference play, topping Maryland and Baylor. The loss to Indiana aside, the Gamecocks have appeared ahead of schedule in integrating their star freshman class and forward Aliyah Boston has an inside track on Freshman of the Year honors for the conference, alongside likely Freshman All-SEC honorees Zia Cooke and Brea Beal.
USC also has steady senior leadership in Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan and Tyasha Harris and a diverse attack with eight players averaging between 12.9 and 5.7 points per game. At the moment, Dawn Staley’s team has moved from co-favorite to solid front-runner for the conference championship.
Key conference games for USC
Jan. 2 — vs. No. 13 Kentucky
Jan. 9 — vs. No. 20 Arkansas
Jan. 20 — vs. No. 15 Mississippi State
Feb. 2 — vs. No. 22 Tennessee
Feb. 6 — at No. 20 Arkansas
Feb. 20 — vs. LSU
Feb. 23 — at No. 13 Kentucky
March 1 — vs. No. 11 Texas A&M
SEC team records entering conference play
1. South Carolina (12-1)
Arkansas (12-1)
Texas A&M (12-1)
4. Kentucky (11-1)
5. Mississippi State (12-2)
6. LSU (10-2)
Tennessee (10-2)
8. Alabama (10-3)
Vanderbilt (10-3)
10. Florida (9-4)
Georgia (9-4)
12. Auburn (6-5)
13. Ole Miss (7-6)
14. Missouri (3-10)
NEXT
What: South Carolina vs. Kentucky
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 The Game in Columbia area