3 things to watch for in South Carolina WBB’s exhibition game vs. UNC
Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks are hitting the road for Atlanta on Thursday.
No. 2 South Carolina will face off against No. 11 North Carolina in a neutral site exhibition in State Farm Arena, home of the NBA’s Atlanta Hawks.
“We’re gonna play to win the game,” Staley told local media Wednesday. “... We’re playing it in public and playing another D-I school to win, to see where we are, to see where some pieces can help us out throughout the year. ... We need to see some chemistry.”
The matchup between the Gamecocks and Tar Heels women’s basketball teams is the first of two games in a college hoops double header. An exhibition between Auburn and Memphis men’s basketball teams.
Here are a few things to watch in South Carolina’s second exhibition:
Jump in competition
USC’s exhibition against North Carolina will be several steps up on the competition meter than its first exhibition. The Gamecocks played Anderson last week and beat the Division II school handily, 112-31.
This time around, South Carolina will be up against a Top 25 opponent.
North Carolina is currently ranked No. 11 in the AP preseason poll. UNC was a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament last year. The Tar Heels nearly played the Gamecocks in the Elite Eight but lost to arch-rival Duke in the Sweet 16.
This year, UNC was picked to No. 3 in the ACC’s predicted order of finish and senior guard Reniya Kelly was named to the All-ACC preseason team.
Thursday will be Staley’s first look at how this year’s Gamecock group handles top tier competition. It’s nothing South Carolina hasn’t done before, but rest assured the result won’t be an 81-point win.
Will we see the same from Makeer?
True freshman Agot Makeer made the most of her minutes in Friday’s exhibition against Anderson.
Makeer had a sneaky 16 points on 5-for-9 shooting. She took (and made) the most shots of any bench player for South Carolina. Makeer also tallied six rebounds and four assists while making a big impact on defense with five steals.
As a result, Staley rewarded her with a few more minutes in the game. Makeer finished second on the team in minutes played with 25.
Makeer played well against a Division II opponent, but Thursday will be her first test against a P4 team.
She may not get to play 25 minutes (or even 20) against North Carolina, but it will be interesting to see how she follows up her debut performance.
Homecoming for Raven Johnson
Thursday’s exhibition will be a homecoming for South Carolina’s Raven Johnson.
The veteran point guard is from Atlanta and played her prep ball at Westlake High School — about 30 minutes away from where South Carolina is playing its exhibition.
Johnson did a lot of winning in Atlanta. She was a four-time Georgia high school state champion, won the statewide Georgia Miss Basketball award twice and was a McDonald’s All-American.
The game is also somewhat of a homecoming for Ta’Niya Latson. Johnson and Latson were teammates in high school for three years before Johnson graduated and Latson moved to Florida for her senior year. In their time together, Westlake boasted a combined 82-2 record and won a GEICO prep national championship.
South Carolina WBB vs. UNC: How to watch
- Who: No. 2 South Carolina vs. No. 11 UNC (exhibition)
- When: 6 p.m. Thursday
- Where: State Farm Arena in Atlanta
- Admission: Tickets on sale starting at $50 on Ticketmaster
- TV broadcast: None
- Radio broadcast: 98.5 FM WOMG (Brad Muller)
