COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball continues SEC play with its toughest game yet.
The No. 2 Gamecocks (17-1, 4-0 SEC) host Texas on Jan. 15 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2) for their first top-5 conference game of the season. The No. 4 Longhorns (18-1, 3-1) beat South Carolina 66-64 in the Player’s Era Tournament championship on Nov. 27 in Las Vegas for the Gamecocks’ only loss of the season.
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Texas didn’t lose a game until Jan. 11 when LSU beat the Longhorns 70-65 and dropped them from No. 2 to No. 4 in the rankings.
This game will be the sixth meeting between South Carolina and Texas since Jan. 12, 2025, and the Gamecocks hold a 3-2 edge in those games, including the SEC Tournament championship and Final Four. Here’s what to know about the game.
Texas’ Rori Harmon allows Madison Booker to thrive
Madison Booker is Texas’ leading scorer with 19.2 points per game, but the 6-foot-1 forward is put in great position to score because of her point guard, Rori Harmon.
Harmon hit a jump shot with less than a second left to win on Nov. 27, scoring just her sixth point of the game. Even when she’s not scoring, she’s still driving the offense and in that game she had nine assists.
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She’s averaging 7.4 per game to go with 2.9 steals, scoring an average of 8.7 points. Booker creates her own shots, but Harmon operates the offense in a way where she knows how and where to find Booker.
Harmon is second in the country in assist/turnover ratio with 140 assists to 26 turnovers. She won’t be careless with the ball so her defender isn’t focused on steals necessarily but pressuring her passing so she can’t run the offense with ease. Harmon won’t take a lot of 3-point shots so the farther she’s pushed away from Booker and the basket, the better.
Booker went 19-of-65 against South Carolina in four games last year, but Bree Hall was a large part of that on defense and she’s now in the WNBA. Raven Johnson and company will have to help out and force Booker into passes or low-percentage shots.
She was 7-of-16 for 16 points in this year’s win.
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South Carolina needs big game from starters
Staley had depth last year, leading the nation in bench points with 40.3, but this year her bench is averaging 17.1 which is 250th in Division I.
All of her starters are averaging 10.2 or more points and will likely play heavy minutes. Finishing layups and shots around the rim is vital and South Carolina’s lack of paint points was a large reason Texas won the last game.
Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot can’t force their shots through traffic, but when Texas’ 6-6 Kyla Oldacre isn’t on the floor, the Gamecocks will want to work the ball inside especially. Oldacre can’t get easy layups because Staley has height off the bench, but there’s been a drop in scoring when Adhel Tac or Maryam Dauda sub in.
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South Carolina needs to rebound, shift to guard 3-point shots
Texas won the last rebounding battle 39-32 and had 16 offensive rebounds. When the Longhorns miss, the ball has to land in South Carolina’s hands. Possessions are too valuable in SEC play to give a team like Texas extra chances.
In addition, the Gamecocks need to have strong closeouts on the 3-point line, especially on Jordan Lee, who is averaging 2.3 makes per game. She hit three in the Final Four and has scored 16 and 19 points each of the last two meetings.
She’s another X-factor that elevates Texas’ offense, which makes it hard for a South Carolina defender to help on Booker if it means leaving Lee wide open. Every defender will have to do their part for the Gamecocks since Texas can punish a defense from multiple spots.
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Will Alicia Tournebize debut for South Carolina vs. Texas?
On Jan. 12, Staley said on a radio show that Alicia Tournebize, her new 6-7 transfer from France, could make her South Carolina debut vs Texas.
“Hopefully with these next couple of prep days we might be able to see her on Thursday,” Staley said.
Whether she plays or not, it’s an added layer Texas has to prepare for given there’s no film from college play yet on Tournebize.
What is Dawn Staley’s record vs Vic Schaefer?
Dawn Staley is 16-5 against Vic Schaefer from his time at both Texas and Mississippi State.
South Carolina vs Texas score prediction
South Carolina 85, Texas: 77: Gamecocks rise to the challenge and get revenge, limiting Madison Booker’s production to under 13 points.
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina vs Texas predictions: How Gamecocks can get revenge
