No. 2 South Carolina WBB prepares for heavyweight showdown with No. 5 Texas
The No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball team will play the second leg of its Texas two-step on Sunday when the No. 5 Texas Longhorns come to town.
It’ll be the first time Texas has played against South Carolina in Colonial Life Arena and just the fifth time the two schools have matched up. The series is tied at 2-2, with the Gamecocks holding a two-game win streak — the latest being a 62-34 win in San Antonio that sent South Carolina to the Final Four in 2021.
While the SEC rookie Longhorns might not be too familiar with South Carolina, their head coach Vic Schaefer certainly is. Schaefer had several run-ins with Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks during his eight-year stint as head coach at Mississippi State, including a national title bout in 2017.
Staley holds a 12-3 record in head-to-head matchups with Schaefer in their careers.
“Vic is a coach of habit,” Staley said. “He’s very similar to what he was in Mississippi State. He’s probably got a more talented roster, so he’s got a lot more to work with. I think he will be the same old, same old — in a good way.
“They’re gonna press, they’re gonna make it hard for you to inbound the balls. They’re gonna pressure defense you and then he’s gonna find, offensively, who should shoot the ball. He’s got bigs, he’s got shooters, he’s got a point guard that is extraordinary, that is a consummate point guard that can score and facilitate and manage the game. All the keys to winning the national championship.”
While South Carolina is coming off a big 90-49 win over Texas A&M on Thursday, Texas is doing the same. The Longhorns defended their home court in a 84-40 shellacking of No. 18 Alabama.
After Thursday’s game, Schafer was confident in his team as it heads to Columbia and said the Longhorns are “excited for the challenge.”
“I know South Carolina is really good and they’ll be ready. ... We have to play really hard,” he said. “That’s the things about Dawn’s teams, is that they always play really hard. They’re aggressive, they’re physical, and so we’re gonna have to be all of that.”
Texas heads into Sunday’s game with a rebounding margin of 13 — good for No. 5 in the country and No. 3 in the SEC. The Longhorns also average 17.1 offensive rebounds per game (No. 8 in the country). Staley said Texas’ ability to control the post will be the Gamecocks’ biggest battle.
“Their bigs are good, their guards are good,” Staley said. “In Vic’s heyday here in the SEC, he controlled the paint and he’s not going to change. You can win a lot of basketball games when you win the paint. So we’ve got to win that battle. And then rebounding. Rebounding is going to be key for us.”
Texas is led by forward Madison Booker, who presents a unique challenge for the Gamecocks defense. Booker leads Texas with an average of 15.3 points per game and has 5.9 rebounds per game. Booker finished with 21 points against Alabama, her sixth 20-plus point game of the season.
“You’ve got make it difficult for her to catch,” Staley said of slowing down Booker. “She’s in great shape as well, a lot better shape than she was last year. I think she’s just understanding college and the whole dynamics of your body. ... Just make it real hard before the catch, because you know when she catches it, you’re at her mercy.”
Texas guard Rori Harmon said she expects Sunday’s game to be a “knock down, drag out” battle between two heavyweight programs.
South Carolina guard Raven Johnson said the two teams match up very well.
“They’ve got good guard play, good post play, and we have good guard play, good post play,” Johnson said. “I think they’re really big on X’s and O’s and being disciplined, and we’re really big on X’s and O’s and being disciplined. So it’s gonna be a good game.”
Upcoming SEC schedule
Texas will be the first of five-straight SEC opponents South Carolina will face that are all currently ranked in the Top 25. Playing national championship-caliber teams like Texas in conference play is a good barometer for how strong her own team is, Staley said.
“I like i., I’m not threatened (by) the five games in 16 days at all,” Staley said after the win over Texas A&M. “Our team is prepared to play. Win, lose or draw, we’re gonna play. We’re gonna play hard, we’ll give our best effort. That doesn’t mean that we’re gonna play perfectly, but we’re gonna muck it up to where other teams can’t play perfectly either. It’s gonna be a battle and we look forward to the battle.”
South Carolina’s next five games will certainly be a challenge, but its approach will be simple.
“We’re gonna go out there and we’re gonna play one game at a time,” Joyce Edwards said Thursday.
How to watch South Carolina vs. Texas
- Who: No. 2 South Carolina (15-1, 3-0 SEC) vs. No. 5 Texas (16-1, 3-0 SEC)
- Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
- When: 1 p.m. Sunday
- TV: ESPN
Schedule: Next 5 games
- Sunday: vs. Texas, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
- Thursday: at Alabama, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Jan. 19: vs. Oklahoma, 3 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 23: vs. LSU, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 27: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
