Short-handed USC women set for exhibition opener against Newberry

The red of visiting Newberry’s uniforms will match the primary color on South Carolina’s bench.

The No. 2 Gamecocks will play the Wolves in an exhibition game on Friday missing four players: SEC Freshman of the Year A’ja Wilson (foot), senior Asia Dozier (ankle) and freshmen Doniyah Cliney (hand) and Shay Colley (hip pointer) are out for the game, coach Dawn Staley said Thursday.

The good news is other than Cliney, who could miss a few games, the injuries aren’t expected to be serious. The Gamecocks should be close to full health in a week, when No. 6 Ohio State visits to start the regular season.

The bad news is Staley doesn’t want to see anybody hurt now, when her coaching style has always been to keep a fresh team on the floor at all times. The Gamecocks have 16 players on the roster, and three (transfers Allisha Gray and Kaela Davis, plus the injured Tiffany Davis) aren’t going to play this year anyway. With another four out, USC has nine available players.

It’s going to be a lonely bench.

“When we’ve been healthy all season long is when we’ve had our best seasons,” Staley said. “So we got to figure out a way to make sure that we have our full roster so we’ll be a team to be reckoned with if we can go 14 deep.”

Two-time SEC Player of the Year and All-American Tiffany Mitchell will play after sitting most of the preseason with after-effects of offseason foot surgery. Sophomore Jatarie White, who missed most of last season with her own foot problems, will also play. The Gamecocks still have plenty of talent, and Mitchell being out most of the month has given USC’s other players chances to flourish in their offensive games.

That can help when the real games start, as early opponents won’t have film of the non-standouts scoring a lot of points. But a thin bench will require more minutes on Friday, curtailing Staley’s plans to have fresh legs on the floor as much as possible.

“The ones that are healthy will come out and play hard and play as if it’s their last game,” she said. “That’s the way we want to approach every single game we play this year.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 6:05 PM with the headline "Short-handed USC women set for exhibition opener against Newberry."