South Carolina women’s basketball enters the season as reigning champions, No.1 team in Japan.
USC has won two national titles under head coach Dawn Staley, and its roster includes several potential WNBA players and a number of McDonald’s All-Americans.
The program gave fans their first look at the team. Exhibition game with Benedict last week, but the season officially begins Monday at 8:30 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena against East Tennessee. Also Monday: Teams will celebrate their latest national championship with a ceremony starting at 8:10pm.
Just plug into the new year? Here’s what Gamecocks have to say about his 2022-23 season.
who is gone
Last year’s starting point guard, Destanni Henderson, was drafted into the WNBA after the season. She was her second-most scorer on the team and was also the leader in assists.
Saniya Rivers transferred to North Carolina after her freshman year. Eniya Russell transferred after her sophomore year and is now at the University of Kentucky.
Destin Littleton and Elysa Wesolek transferred during their senior years, with Littleton moving to Southern California and Wesolek to North Florida.
LeLe Grissett qualified as a graduate last season.
who is back
Aaliyah Boston, Zia Cook, Blair Beal and Victoria Saxton are the team’s returning starters. Boston enters the season as the current National Player of the Year and Final Four Most Outstanding Player. She, Cook, Beal, and Saxton all made preseason watchlists at their respective positions.
Laetitia Amichele, Camila Cardoso, Bully Hall and Sania Figin are key players returning as reserves. Amihere and Cardoso were his two leading bench scorers during the championship season. Hall and Feagin started in last week’s exhibition game, with Hall leading his team with 19 points and Feagin with his 17 points and his double-double with 12 rebounds.
Raven Johnson missed two games last year with a knee injury, but he’s back as a redshirt sophomore. Former Walk-On Olivia Thompson is back for her senior season.
new person
Ashlyn Watkins (forward) and Talaysia Cooper (guard) are freshmen on the team. Both had 11 points and 9 rebounds each in the exhibition game against Benedict. Cooper has added six assists and six steals to his stats line.
Kierra Fletcher (Guard) is the only transfer student from Georgia Tech. She averaged 9.6 points, 5.7 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 113 games as her yellow jacket. She is currently working towards her return from the leg injury she sustained last season.
annual theme
“DNA” was announced as the team’s theme before preseason games. It stands for “Dreams, Nets, Assets” and is intended to represent the team’s status in college basketball, both on the court and in the space of its name, image and likeness.
USC has had an annual theme since the 2012-13 season.
Expected SEC finish
South Carolina has been named a favorite to win the SEC this season by the media and coaches.
USC has won the conference regular season title in two of the last three seasons. It happened six times under Staley.
The Gamecocks reached the SEC Tournament Championship Game last season, but lost to the Kentucky Wildcats. USC won his two tournaments before last year’s loss.
schedule outlook
in South Carolina 6 matches against ranked opponents 10 against teams that participated in last year’s NCAA Tournament.
Many of the team’s most challenging games are underway. Gamecocks said he will visit No. 17 Maryland and No. 2 Stanford in November. It’s technically a Neutral Site game, but it also faces Sioux Falls’ 23rd South Dakota.
USC later travels to Hartford, Connecticut, to suspend SEC play in February to play No. 6 UConn. The team’s final road game will be against No. 5 Tennessee.
The toughest stretch of the schedule occurs in early February. Before the game against the Huskies, USC will host last year’s SEC Tournament Champion Kentucky his Wildcats. After moving to UConn, South Carolina will play another road his game in Auburn, and back home he will face the No. 16 LSU.
The SEC tournament kicks off in Greenville on March 1st.
Initial start 5 projections
- G Raven Johnson
- G. Zia Cook
- F Blair Beer
- F. Victoria Saxton
- F Aaliyah Boston
This can be difficult, especially for point guards.
After the team’s practice on Friday, Staley said Johnson and Fletcher could play on the fractional limit, with Johnson so far receiving more reps at the position than Fletcher.
Saxton did not play in the exhibition, but is expected to return this week.
The team started with Cook and Hall at guard positions for the exhibition game, with Feagin joining Beal and Boston in the frontcourt. Amichele was primarily a point guard, but ran in the second unit.
Staley said Feagin hit a “180” in offseason growth. This could lead to more minutes, Hall said at Monday’s exhibition, where he played 24 minutes and tied for his 19 points with Cook.
USC WBB 2022-23 schedule
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November 7: Home vs. ETSU, 8:30 PM (SEC Network)
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November 11: Maryland, 6pm (ESPN2)
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November 17: Clemson, 7pm (ACC Network)
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November 20: Stanford University, 3:00 pm (ABC)
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Nov 22: Cal Poly, 8pm (TV/stream TBD)
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Nov 27: Home vs. Hamptons, Noon (SEC Network Plus)
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Nov. 29: Home vs. UCLA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
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December 3: Home vs. Memphis, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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Dec 11: Home vs. Liberty, 2pm (SEC Network Plus)
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Dec. 15: Neutral v. South Dakota, 7 p.m. ESPN2
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Dec 18: Home v Charleston Southern, 2pm (SEC Network Plus)
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Dec 21: Home vs. Coastal Carolina at Noon (SEC Network Plus)
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Dec 29: Home v Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)
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January 2: Georgia, 7:00 p.m. (SEC Network)
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Jan 5: Home vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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January 8: Mississippi, 1:00 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)
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January 12: Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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Jan. 15: Home vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)
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January 19: Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
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Jan. 22: Home v Arkansas, 3 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)
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January 29: Alabama, 1:00 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)
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Feb. 2: Home v Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
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February 5: Noon UConn (Fox)
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February 9: Auburn, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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Feb 12: Home vs LSU, 2pm (SEC Network)
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Feb. 16: Home v Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
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Feb 19: Ole Miss, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
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February 23: Tennessee, 7pm (ESPN)
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Feb. 26: Home vs. Georgia at Noon (SEC Network or ESPN2)
This story was originally published November 6, 2022 at 8:58 AM.
