No. 2 Gamecocks lose another guard

South Carolina is down another guard.

A week after freshman Shay Colley departed the No. 2 Gamecocks due to homesickness, sophomore Kaydra Duckett decided to step away from the team for the spring semester to concentrate on academics. Coach Dawn Staley made the announcement around 90 minutes before the Gamecocks tipped off against No. 20 Missouri on Sunday.

"It was solely her call," Staley said. "We’re just going to take it this semester. We’ll let her enjoy being a regular student and work on her academics, and then we’ll talk after that."

Duckett, the No. 32 overall prospect in the country out of Dreher High School two years ago, has struggled to get on the court at USC. By her own admission, her freshman year was derailed by not coming to campus in shape. It limited her to 20 games in 2014-15, although she played in two NCAA tournament games.

Duckett played 55 minutes over eight games this season, averaging 1.1 points and 1.0 rebounds. She had a career-high 15 minutes against Winthrop.

The departure further whittles USC’s depth. The Gamecocks are down to 11 players.

This story was originally published January 10, 2016 at 10:59 AM.