Star Gamecock freshman is ‘game time’ decision for top-25 road clash, Dawn Staley says
For 22 consecutive games, South Carolina women’s basketball and coach Dawn Staley have trotted out the same starting lineup, and the Gamecocks have ridden that group to the No. 1 ranking in the country.
Ahead of another big SEC contest on Thursday, one member of that starting lineup will be a “game time” decision for Staley — freshman forward Aliyah Boston.
Against Tennessee this past Sunday, Boston appeared to plant her foot awkwardly while going for a rebound and immediately left the game, limping back to the locker room. She reappeared on the bench in the fourth quarter and Staley said afterward she could have returned if it was the national championship.
Before USC left to play No. 25 Arkansas on the road Thursday, Staley provided a limited update.
“She’s doing OK. A little less pain, which is good. We’ll see how it goes tomorrow,” Staley said, adding that it was an ankle/foot ailment.
Wednesday’s practice session ended before the media were able to view any drills, but Boston was dressed to practice. After sporting a guard on the inside of her lower leg in practices and games for several weeks, she did not appear to be wearing it Wednesday — she also had it off when she returned to the bench against Tennessee.
Boston played a starring role in the season’s first meeting between South Carolina and Arkansas, totaling 19 points and 25 rebounds against a smaller Razorbacks squad that had simply no answer for her in the low post. That powered South Carolina to a 91-82 win.
Freshman forward Laeticia Amihere is currently away competing with the Canadian national team, so if USC is forced to go without Boston, who’s currently averaging 13 points, 8.7 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game, sophomore forward Victaria Saxton will have a lot of slack to pick up.
“V’s done well against Arkansas. We missed her when we lost in the SEC tournament (last year),” Staley said. “We have her. If she’s gotta play a whole lot of minutes, we’re comfortable with that.”
Another key player in South Carolina’s last win over Arkansas was Razorbacks guard Chelsea Dungee. She is one of the leading scorers in the SEC but missed 11 consecutive shots to start the last contest as the Gamecocks raced out to a massive lead. That lead withstood a late charge as Arkansas, a notoriously 3-point heavy team, got some shots to go and rallied to within single digits.
“It’s hard to slow them down. You just gotta make sure you’re contesting all the shots or hopefully allowing them to 2 us rather than 3 us. Obviously we can’t retreat. We retreated in transition and played the drive and they stopped and popped,” Staley said. “So we gotta do a much better job at just make sure we’re locked in and ready to take away just some of their 3s. They’re gonna shoot 3s, they’re gonna make 3s. ... If it’s 15 of them and we can cut that in half, it helps us in a big way.”
WHEN DO THE GAMECOCKS PLAY NEXT?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (21-1, 9-0 SEC) vs. No. 25 Arkansas (18-4, 6-3 SEC)
When: 8:30 p.m. Thursday
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, Arkansas
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 1320 AM/107.5 FM in Columbia area
