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

South Carolina takes a break from conference play for a game at Coppin State. Here are five things to watch.

1. Availability

For the second game in a row, South Carolina expects to have its full roster. If so, it will be just the sixth time this season South Carolina has started a game with its full roster. Adhel Tac wore a mask against Texas, presumably to protect some sort of facial injury. It didn’t seem to bother her; she had one of her best games of the season.

Because this is a non-conference game, South Carolina does not have to release an official availability report.

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2. Get right

SEC teams get two byes during the conference season. Teams use the byes in different ways. Some take both byes. Others use one of the byes for a major non-conference game. For 10 years, South Carolina was one of these teams, playing UConn annually. 

For a variety of reasons, including UConn scheduling Tennessee, that series is on pause (the series actually ended in 2024,  but last season they had to make good the postponed 2022 game). So South Carolina has gone to a third option for one its byes: a guarantee game.

Playing a guarantee game allows the Gamecocks to maintain their normal weekly schedule and work on some issues without having to worry about losing the game. It’s basically a glorified scrimmage.

It’s an important game for players like Tac, Agot Makeer, and Ayla McDowell, who don’t always play major minutes in SEC games.

3. Allez, Ali

This is where topics one and two come together.

Freshman forward Alicia Tournebize made her Gamecock debut against Texas. She played five minutes, and although her only stats were two fouls, her potential was obvious.

Ideally, Sunday’s game gives Tournebize a chance to do more than just get her feet wet. If South Carolina takes care of business, she might be able to play 10-15 minutes. That should give her time to do more than commit a couple of fouls.

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4. Recruiting

When there’s an odd game on a schedule like this, there’s a good chance it’s about recruiting and a chance to bring someone home or play in front of a top recruit. Sure enough, two of the top four prospects in the 2027 class are from the DMV.

Second-ranked Ivanna Wilson-Manyacka is from Potomac, MD, and fourth-ranked Jezelle “GG” Banks is from Bethesda, MD. Both have Gamecock offers and are key targets in the class. Staley, Lisa Boyer, Jolette Law, and Wendale Farrow also attended their games at the Hoophall Classic on Friday.

The Washington-Baltimore area has become one of the most talent-rich areas in the country. That includes current Gamecock Maddy McDaniel, who attended Bishop McNamara. Former Gamecocks Sahnya Jah and Eniya Russell also came out of the area.

5. Scouting the Eagles

Coppin State checks in at 298 in the NET, with losses to Arizona State (67-53), Ohio State (88-59), Tennessee (88-35), Oklahoma (100-46), SMU (57-49), and Georgia (82-55). A sign of life in the MEAC, the Eagles have played just five home games this season, two of them conference games.

Coppin State averages 23.2 turnovers per game. Only three teams in the country are worse at taking care of the ball. That’s not good against South Carolina, a team that wants to play in transition as much as possible.

Coppin State averages just 55.4 points per game, bottom 15 in the country. The Eagles are lucky that the NCAA statistics website is down while writing this, or there would be more unflattering rankings.

5-11 senior Khila Morris averages 12.4 points, the only Eagle averaging in double-figures. 6-0 forward Shanaii Gamble is the leading rebounder at 6.1 rebounds.

The Ws

Who: #2 South Carolina (18-1, 5-0) at Copin State (4-15, 2-2)
When: Noon, Sunday, January 18
Where: Physical Education Complex, Baltimore, MD
Watch: ESPN+

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