South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - Clemson

South Carolina hosts in-state rival Clemson to cap off a season-opening homestand. Here’s what to watch for on Tuesday night.

1. Johnson & Johnson

Through two games, Ta’Niyah Latson and Joyce Edwards are each averaging 18.5 points and have been the star players the Gamecocks expected them to be. The more pleasant surprise has been the play of guards Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson.

After a down season last year, Raven appears to be back to the 2023-24 version of herself. She is averaging 11.0 points, 9.0 assists, 6.5 rebounds, and 3.0 steals with just three total turnovers. 

Raven has started the season 4-7 from three. Last season, she didn’t make her fourth three until November 30 against Purdue. That was eight games into the season, and she was 4-23 at that point. Raven also got her 18th assist in that game, the same number she has this season.

Tessa was productive in her first two seasons, but South Carolina needed her to make a jump to the next level this season and didn’t try to hide it. That’s why, after the North Carolina exhibition, when Tessa said she doesn’t worry about her scoring, and Staley cut her off to say, “I do!”

Tessa is averaging 16.5 points, 6.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and hitting 45.5% from three. After being mostly a three-point shooter the last two seasons, Tessa has been a three-level scorer who is rebounding and creating for her teammates. 

The up-tempo, guard-oriented offense South Carolina has played this season suits her well. Plus, Tessa is enjoying herself.

“It’s very fun,” she said. “You can see it out there. We’re all having fun with each other. I think this is just a different dynamic. We’re playing really fast.”

2. Injury updates

Staley updated the injury status of two guards on Monday. Maddy McDaniel, who left the season opener after banging knees with a defender, is expected to miss her second straight game. Agot Makeer, who left the Bowling Green game in the third quarter and did not return, is expected to play.

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3. Threes

The Gamecocks are averaging 104 points through two games, so there isn’t much to complain about offensively. But if they are nitpicking, Staley would like to see more three-pointers.

South Carolina is 15-33 from behind the arc, 45.5%. She’ll take that percentage, but on Carolina Calls, Staley said she wanted to see 10 made threes against Bowling Green. They had six.

Will the Gamecocks try to shoot more against Clemson or stick with what has worked so far?

4. Early signing period

The NCAA Early Signing Period begins on Wednesday and lasts until November 19, but South Carolina got the week started early with a commitment on Monday. California five-star forward Kaeli Wynn announced her commitment to South Carolina, joining Kelsi Andrews in the 2026 class. 

Both are expected to officially sign over the next week. South Carolina is also still in the running for Jerzy Robinson, Fope Ayo, Alicia Tournebize, and Sara Okeke.

5. Scouting the Tigers

Undeniably, Shawn Poppie has Clemson on an upward trajectory in his second season, but the Tigers might still be a year away. 

Clemson opened the season with convincing wins over USC Upstate (76-38) and at Mercer (72-51). But Upstate was picked to finish sixth in the Big South and Mercer was picked to finish last in the Southern Conference, so it’s hard to draw too much from those scores. 

Under Poppie, Clemson wants to play fast and shoot lots of threes. So far, Clemson is shooting 40% on 22.5 attempts per game. That’s one more attempt than it averaged last year, when the Tigers only hit 34.5%.

“They spread you out, they like to play in transition, they like to play ahead in the possession so they can get spot-up threes,” Staley said. “Tough. They’ll pressure. They’ll play a little zone. So we’ve got to prepare.”

Lack of size is a potential weak spot for the Tigers. Clemson has just one projected starter over 6-0, and the two tallest rotation players are 6-2 and 6-3. The Tigers are outrebounding their opponents by an average of 40-22.5 so far this season, but they haven’t truly been tested.

South Carolina has won 14 straight games against Clemson, dating back to a double-overtime loss in 2009 (the teams did not play in the 2020-21 pandemic season).

Clemson has only kept the margin of defeat under 20 points once since 2011, a 69-57 loss in 2018. Most of the games have been huge blowouts, but Clemson gave South Carolina fits last season. It took a 17-0 spurt late in the first half for South Carolina to take the lead, and then the Gamecocks pulled away in the second half for a 77-45 win.

“It took a little while for us to separate ourselves the last time we played them, so we’ll be ready to rock and roll,” Staley said.

The Ws

Who: #2 South Carolina (2-0) vs Clemson (2-0)
When: 6:00 ET, Tuesday, November 11
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Watch: ESPN2

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