The latest South Carolina WBB injury report before NCAA Tournament first round
There’s a chance South Carolina could be down two players for its matchup with No. 16 seed Southern in the first four of the NCAA Tournament Saturday.
Dawn Staley and the No. 1 seed Gamecocks were without both Maddy McDaniel and Adhel Tac at practice on Friday.
McDaniel’s absence was related to an illness, Staley said. The coach is hopeful the sophomore guard will play against Southern.
“Maddy’s a little bit under the weather,” Staley said. “But hopefully another day’s rest, hopefully she’ll be ready to go tomorrow.”
Sophomore forward Adhel Tac is still dealing with a lower leg injury. Tac was with the team Friday but did not practice. She spent most of the practice time the media was permitted to view on Friday off to the side on an exercise bike.
“Adhel is still walking around in her boot,” Staley said.
Tac has missed South Carolina’s last 10 games. Her last appearance came against Mississippi State on Feb. 5. She’s since been seen wearing a boot or riding around on a scooter.
An official decision on their respective availability will be made public via the NCAA Tournament player availability report. The initial report will come out Friday at 9 p.m., and a game day report is due two hours before tip-off on Saturday.
In other injury-related news, South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson did not have a knee brace on at practice Friday. Latson has been wearing a brace on her left knee since early February. South Carolina star forward Joyce Edwards was spotted wearing some sort of wrap/brace on her right shoulder during practice. Edwards did not appear to be affected by the wrap/brace and was a full participant in the Gamecocks’ drills. It’s unclear whether wearing the wrap/brace is normal for Edwards.
South Carolina should be fine even if Tac and McDaniel can’t play on Saturday. The Gamecocks have a 100% chance to beat Southern and are 50-point favorites in the game, per analytics site BartTorvik.com. A No. 16 seed has only beaten a No. 1 seed once in the entire history of the women’s NCAA Tournament.
