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COLUMBIA — Coming off of a victory over beforehand undefeated LSU, South Carolina women’s basketball hopes to maintain its undefeated season alive in one other SEC matchup with Florida.
The No. 1 Gamecocks (25-0, 12-0 SEC) tackle the Gators (14-11, 3-9) at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday (7 p.m., SEC Network+). Florida is on a three-game shedding streak in SEC play and has confronted only one different ranked opponent this season: It misplaced 95-79 to No. 12 Oklahoma on Dec. 21.
The all-time sequence is tied 20-20, however South Carolina has gained the final 14 consecutive conferences since 2012. Florida’s final win was a two-point victory in Columbia in January 2011. Last season the Gamecocks beat the Gators 62-50 in Gainesville, marking their fifth straight double-digit win within the sequence.
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Exploiting weak Gators protection
Florida’s scoring protection is without doubt one of the worst within the nation, rating 260th out of 350 Division I applications. The Gators enable 67.6 factors per recreation and have struggled much more in convention play, permitting a mean of 72 factors to SEC opponents. Florida additionally has a adverse turnover margin and averages 17.4 per recreation, the second-highest charge within the convention.
The matchup is right for South Carolina, which boasts the No. 1 scoring protection and No. 8 scoring offense within the nation. The Gamecocks common 82.5 factors per recreation and have scored under 80 factors simply 3 times in SEC play whereas additionally scoring greater than 90 3 times. Eleven of their 12 SEC wins have been by double digits and eight have been by 20-plus.
Deep benches on either side
Though the expertise disparity is simple, Florida is able to matching South Carolina’s dimension and depth. The Gators usually rotate 11 gamers and have three averaging 12-plus factors per recreation. Florida’s stat sheet is impressively balanced: The lowest-scoring starter averages 5 factors per recreation, whereas the Gamecocks have two starters averaging fewer than 5. Three of 5 Gators starters additionally common at the very least 4 rebounds.
The deep rotation partially comes from necessity after Florida misplaced level guard Zippy Broughton to a season-ending damage in October. Broughton, a graduate scholar who transferred from Rutgers in 2021, would have been the Gators’ prime returner in each scoring and assists. With her sidelined, Florida has 4 sophomores enjoying at the very least 11 minutes per recreation.
The Gamecocks have dominated undersized groups largely because of 6-foot-5 ahead Aliyah Boston and 6-7 heart Kamilla Cardoso. Cardoso recorded double-doubles towards each No. 6 UConn and No. 5 LSU, and Boston is aiming to repeat as nationwide participant of the yr averaging 13.4 factors and 9.9 rebounds. However, Florida boasts 6-6 heart Ra Shaya Kyle and 6-4 ahead Faith Dut, plus three reserves of 6-2 or taller. If any SEC group can problem the Gamecocks’ put up dominance, it is the Gators.
Gamecocks on document tempo at residence
South Carolina’s win over LSU marked its thirty ninth consecutive win at Colonial Life Arena.
The NCAA document for consecutive residence wins continues to be a good distance away at 111 video games set by UConn from 2014-17, however the SEC document is held by Tennessee at 46. While the Gamecocks haven’t got sufficient remaining residence video games to surpass the Lady Vols, they may lengthen the streak to 43 in 2022-23. That would require an undefeated common season end, plus wins in first two rounds of the NCAA event that South Carolina is predicted to host.
Score and a prediction
South Carolina 91, Florida 66: Florida might put up a greater struggle than its document would point out, however the Gamecocks look unbeatable, and their expertise is just too a lot for the Gators to deal with. Cardoso continues her scorching streak with one other double-double, and Ashlyn Watkins reveals up as a serious contributor off the bench.
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