How To Watch: No. 1 South Carolina at Auburn

South Carolina's women's basketball team is heading back on the road to take on the Auburn Tigers, who could challenge the Gamecocks' offense.

Author:
Andrew Lyon
Publish date:
Jan 31, 2024 11:22 PM EST

Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks have gone up against their fair share of tenacious defenses this season, with opponents like Texas A&M, Duke, and North Carolina all ranking in the Top 50 nationally in field goal percentage defense. While their upcoming adversary, the Auburn Tigers, just barely missed the cut in that aforementioned category, ranking 51st in field goal percentage defense (37.2%), this SEC contest could make Gamecock fans sweat a little bit if Carolina isn't careful.

Auburn is a team that doesn't excel in a vast array of areas statistically but has a clear identity regarding what they want to do. They're going to vary their defensive looks to pressure your guards into making mistakes, as evidenced by their 10.8 steals per game (tied for 2nd in SEC), and look to care of the basketball on the other end, as indicated by their +6.25 turnover margin, good for the 10th best mark in the country.

The Tigers don't have many marksmen from behind the arc, as only one player, Sydney Shaw, is shooting above 30 percent from three-point range on 48 or more attempts. However, Johnnie Harris' team, particularly their guards, does a great job of getting themselves good looks near the basket and drawing fouls, as evidenced by their average of 20.55 free throw attempts per game, good for 3rd in the SEC and 35th nationally.

The Gamecocks have had their struggles in the past when it comes to taking care of the basketball in a hostile road environment, so Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao, and MiLaysia Fulwiley will have to be aware of the flow and ongoing dynamics of the game to avoid falling back into bad habits. South Carolina's overall size advantage in the frontcourt could once again play a huge factor in this contest, as Auburn only has one player who grabs more than 4.7 rebounds per game on average, and that's forward Taylen Collins, who's listed on the Tigers' roster at 6'1.

Kamilla Cardoso looking for an opening against Auburn in last season's matchup in Columbia (5th Jan., 2023) — **Kamilla Cardoso** looking for an opening against Auburn in last season's matchup in Columbia (5th Jan., 2023)
Jeff Blake | USA Today Network

If the Gamecocks can take good care of the basketball and exploit the mismatch on the interior, they could make easy work of Auburn. If the opposite happens, this game could get very interesting quickly.