South Carolina women’s basketball’s next home game postponed due to COVID-19 impacts
South Carolina’s first home SEC women’s basketball game — scheduled for Sunday afternoon against the Ole Miss Rebels — has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues in the Ole Miss program, USC announced Wednesday.
The Rebels will be unable to travel to Colonial Life Arena “due to a combination of positive test, contact tracing and subsequent quarantining of individuals within the Ole Miss women’s basketball program,” the school’s release said.
Ole Miss had already postponed its first SEC matchup scheduled against Arkansas for Thursday.
Head coach Dawn Staley took to Twitter shortly after the postponement was announced saying there was “a chance” that the Gamecocks could find another SEC opponent to play in the Rebels’ place.
Speaking in a press conference later Wednesday, Staley said the main challenge to finding another opponent is that the landscape with COVID-19 is rapidly changing. Things could be different for some teams from Wednesday to Saturday, but the Gamecocks want to find someone to fill in the Rebels’ spot.
Florida, Arkansas and Kentucky will all miss their SEC opener on Thursday due to COVID-19 issues at Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Auburn, respectively.
“I know that when there are cancellations, we want to be in line to play as many games as possible,” Staley said. “(We want to play) as many games as possible where everybody’s healthy, and we’re not putting anybody in the position where they are risking their health.”
South Carolina hasn’t reported new COVID-19 issues in its own camp, though LeLe Grissett did not attend the Gamecocks’ game against Stanford on Dec. 21 due to “health and safety protocols,” according to the school.
Staley said she had a long conversation with the Gamecocks before practice Wednesday to keep them informed on CDC guidelines amid the surge in cases and rise in game postponements across the country.
“There’s nothing that you can do besides stay diligent and (follow) the protocols,” Staley said. “Wearing your mask, just constantly reminding them that we’re in this surge of the numbers going up. If you want to continue to be healthy, and then you want to continue to play, there are things that we can control.”
The SEC updated its COVID-19 guidelines on Dec. 23, requiring teams to play if they have at least seven scholarship athletes and one coach available, though schools can elect to play with less. The conference’s announcement stated that efforts would be made to reschedule postponed games, but games will be ruled no contest if they are unable to be rescheduled.
Three other women’s basketball programs in the AP top 10 have grappled with postponements since Christmas. No. 2 Stanford, No. 4 Arizona and No. 6 Maryland have all been forced to miss games due to COVID-19 issues.
“I think we need to keep our bubbles tight,” Staley said. “What we (were) doing was working for the basketball world, meaning a lot of what’s come about was right before Christmas and right after Christmas, that break. ... (The bubble) got bigger once we went home. Our habits changed.”
South Carolina men’s basketball postponed its game with South Carolina State scheduled for Wednesday due to COVID-19, though the statement did not specify if either team was dealing with COVID issues.
Staley said all but two of the Gamecocks will be available for their 7 p.m. Thursday SEC-opening trip to Missouri, though Grissett remains in health and safety protocols like she was against Stanford. Freshman Saniya Rivers won’t be making the trip either.
“We can continue to keep our bubble tight,” Staley said. “We can wear our masks, we can stay out of harm’s way, and we can continue the season.”
This story was originally published December 29, 2021 at 9:48 AM.
