Why Alicia Tournebize didn’t make her debut for South Carolina WBB vs Georgia
Dawn Staley had nearly all of her players available in No. 3 South Carolina’s 65-43 win over Georgia on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (17-1, 4-0 SEC) got star guard Ta’Niya Latson back from injury, but were without mid-year signee Alicia Tournebize for the matchup.
The French prospect was listed as out on the SEC official injury report and did not play for the third-straight game. But, she was seen stretching and warming up with South Carolina in pre-game. Staley is hoping to get Tournebize more practice time before she debuts, she said Sunday.
“She’s been having to do orientations and all of that so she’s missed some practice time,” Staley said after the game Sunday. “So we want to get her some more practice time. There’s only school, I mean classes, in front of her, which will be her normal. So she’ll get out there on Tuesday and Wednesday. Probably get a workout in on Monday as well, just to load her up a little bit more.”
Tournebize arrived to Columbia from France on New Year’s Day after South Carolina opened SEC play with a blowout win over Alabama.
The 6-foot-7 forward didn’t jump into practice right away but traveled with the Gamecocks to Gainesville last week for South Carolina’s SEC road opener. Tournebize was at practice on Wednesday and traveled with the team to Arkansas but did not play.
Tournebize did not practice on Friday while she was going through USC’s freshman orientation. USC starts classes for the 2026 spring semester on Monday, Jan. 12.
The earliest Tournebize could debut now is in South Carolina’s next game against Texas. The Gamecocks will play the No. 2 Longhorns (who lost to No. 12 LSU Sunday) at home in Colonial Life Arena at 7 p.m.
Texas dealt South Carolina its lone loss of the year back in November, making Thursday’s game a rematch. It’s unclear just how much Tournebize would play in the game (and that’s assuming Staley debuts her against the Longhorns) but her size and versatility would undoubtedly help the Gamecocks off the bench.
This story was originally published January 11, 2026 at 5:54 PM.
