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South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks hosting international prospect

On3 imageby: Chris Wellbaum5 hours agoChrisWellbaum
Alicia Tournebize (Photo courtesy of FIBA)
Alicia Tournebize (Photo courtesy of FIBA)

The 2026 early signing period is over, but South Carolina is still recruiting the 2026 class, and the Gamecocks are hosting an international prospect this weekend.

Alicia Tournebize is a 6-4 forward from Vichy, France. She averaged 12.1 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 1.4 assists in the 2025 U18 EuroBasket Tournament. In 2024, she averaged 3.3 points and 1.8 rebounds in the U17 World Cup.

Tournebize is also being recruited by Kentucky. She was in Lexington earlier this week for Kentucky’s game against Purdue.

Tournebize plays professionally in Europe for Tango Bourges Basket. She is averaging 2.2 points and 1.7 rebounds in 6.8 minutes this season. Tournebize is playing against grown women, some with WNBA experience, so for an 18-year-old to even see the court is impressive and speaks to her potential.

Tournebize became a viral sensation over the summer when she had a two-handed dunk in the U18 EuroBasket Tournament. It was at least her third career dunk, and she is the first French woman to ever dunk in a game.

Dawn Staley can’t identify prospects before they sign, but she has teased her interest in Tournebize multiple times. 

In October, she shared a blurry picture of pink A’Ones on social media and said she was recruiting in France “near Paris but not in Paris.” Tournebize was wearing pink A’Ones in photographs from her tournament the same weekend.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

On November 3, Staley was talking about next season’s Oui Play game in Paris against Maryland, and she quipped, “I hope we have a French player on our roster to take home.”

Tournebize has Gamecock ties. Her mother, Isabelle Fijalkowski, played two seasons (1997-98) in the WNBA for the Cleveland Rockers. South Carolina associate head coach Lisa Boyer was an assistant for the Rockers for the 1998 season. 

Fijalkowskii was Cleveland’s leading scorer and rebounder in 1998, her final season. She averaged 12.8 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.3 assists in her two WNBA seasons before returning to Europe for a successful EuroLeague career. 

Fijalkowski played college basketball at Colorado. She was inducted into the French Basketball Hall of Fame in 2011, and will be inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2026.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!