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

South Carolina and Southern Cal meet in Los Angeles for the first game of The Real SC Series. Here’s what to watch for on Saturday.

1. What do we know?

The Trojans played one of the most exciting games of the young season, a 69-68 win over NC State last weekend. While watching that game, it occurred to me that the Trojans are now a known quantity. Conversely, the Gamecock had it too easy up to that point.

The Trojans had to lay it all out to win that game, giving the Gamecocks good film to study. The Gamecocks had only played two blowouts, and nobody knew exactly what they would do in a close game. On the other hand, the Trojans have been forced to learn how to win a close game.

“They’re a little bit more battle-tested than we are, playing the schedule that they play,” Dawn Staley said. “So, hopefully, the teams that we’ve played — and they have — have prepared us for them, as far as the type of offenses.”

Clemson gave the Gamecocks a battle, trailing by just 10 after three quarters. The Gamecocks pulled away in the fourth quarter and won easily, but it was good to be challenged even if it wasn’t to the same degree as the Trojans.

“I thought it was a real challenge for us tonight, they challenged us to be more disciplined. And if we didn’t, we lose a basketball game, they get into our lead,” Staley said after the game. “So it’s really good stuff that we need to show our team so we can recognize it. Everything is about awareness and recognition for this team. Because once they recognize it and they’re aware of it, we make adjustments, and they can actually execute the adjustments.”

I asked Staley on Thursday if she felt confident that the team had learned from that challenge

“We weren’t organized, and I will own that,” Staley said. “We weren’t getting in the things that we were familiar with. We kind of let our players play a little bit in freelance, and once you do that, it leads to bad shots. So, towards the end of the third quarter and into the fourth quarter, we just really got them into things that were familiar.“

2. More shots for Ta’Niya Latson

Latson only took eight shots against Clemson. Especially when struggling on offense, that’s not enough. 

Was Latson trying too hard to fit in and defer to her new teammates? Did they forget they could force the ball to Latson and she could create offense? I asked Raven Johnson.

“I think that game helped us realize what we need to do and how to get better. We’re going to take that game and run with it,” Johnson said. “I think she’s being Ta’Niya Latson. She’s going to get better, and she knows what she needs to work on.”

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3. Jazzy vs Agot

When this series of neutral site games was announced in March, the organizers were probably envisioning  a matchup of Juju Watkins and Milaysia Fulwiley. They won’t get either player, but a matchup between freshmen guards Jazzy Davidson and Agot Makeer should be pretty fun.

Davidson was the top ranked recruit in the nation. She scored 21 points, including the game-winner, against NC State and is averaging 17.5 points.4.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists. Davidson seems to have immediately stepped into the role vacated by Watkins.

Makeer is not being asked to do nearly as much, but she has emerged as the Gamecocks’ top reserve and part of the fourth quarter lineup. She is averaging 7.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.7 blocks while shooting 57% from three.

Davidson is listed at 6-2 and Makeer is listed at 6-1, but both have Wemby-like length. They both use their length well defensively, and NC State struggled to slow down Davidson because the Wolfpack didn’t have anyone with the combination of size and quickness necessary.

She won’t be alone, but that’s where Makeer could have an impact.

“Take away her options, take away her eyesight,” Raven Johnson said. “Just limit things, honestly, but it’s going to be a team effort.”

4. Availability

South Carolina held media availability on Thursday instead of Friday to accommodate travel to Los Angeles. As of practice on Thursday, everyone is healthy and able to play. Maddy McDaniel remains suspended indefinitely.

Southern Cal’s Juju Watkins is out for the season with a torn ACL she suffered in the NCAA tournament last season.

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5. Scouting the Trojans

Not surprisingly, the Trojans are definitely a work in progress.

The Trojans return just one starter from last season, sophomore Kennedy Smith, and have only two seniors, both of whom are in their first season with the Trojans. They also don’t have a clear point guard. 

As spectacular as Davidson has been, she hasn’t shot particularly well. She’s hitting just 30.8% overall, and 3-16 from three. 

Londynn Jones is the Trojans’ second-best offensive threat. She is tied for the scoring lead with Davidson, also averaging 17.5 points. Jones played for UCLA last season and torched the Gamecocks for 15 points on 5-5 shooting from three in their matchup.

6-1 guard Smith is averaging 10.5 points and is tied for the team lead with 6.0 rebounds.

Against NC State, Davidson, Smith, and Jones scored 50 of the Trojans’ 69 points. The Trojans got crushed on the glass and were outrebounded by 14. The Trojans typically play four guards, and other than Davidson, they are small guards.

“We’ve got to figure out how we create layers to our defense so they don’t get easy looks,” Staley said. “The most important thing is to make them work for catches, make them work for good looks. And we got to be committed to that, as an overall team.”

The Ws

Who: #2 South Carolina (3-0) vs #8 Southern Cal (2-0)
When: 9:00 ET, Saturday, November 15
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
Watch: FOX

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