COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball had two guards injured but still gave No. 17 Tennessee its worst loss in program history on Feb. 8.
The 93-50 defeat came just three days after an 88-45 victory over Mississippi State, which the No. 3 Gamecocks (24-2, 10-1 SEC) also did down two players.
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Coach Dawn Staley returned Ta’Niya Latson against the Lady Vols (15-6, 7-2) but didn’t have Maddy McDaniel. She’s been without Agot Makeer since the first quarter against Auburn on Jan. 29.
“We don’t speak about the injured,” Staley said. “We don’t … we actually quite frankly consider them dead. It’s not part of the game plan. They’re unhealthy so we just go with who is available and that is the mentality we need to have.”
What are South Carolina’s injuries heading into LSU game?
In 17 games, Staley has started or finished a game without at least one player.
“We don’t need to sulk on who is here and what could happen,” Staley said. “Whoever is available, it’s the next woman up and that’s the way we practice … it might be shorter practices but that’s the way we handled it.”
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McDaniel was wearing a boot on her left foot, sitting on the bench in sweatpants with Makeer and Chloe Kitts, who tore her ACL in September.
Staley said she doesn’t have an update on McDaniel, but she’ll be evaluated every day. Makeer’s injury hasn’t been specified beyond a lower leg issue.
South Carolina doesn’t play a Thursday game this week ahead of the biggest game of the regular season. The Gamecocks play at No. 5 LSU (22-3, 8-3) on Feb. 14 (8:30 p.m. ET, ABC) in Baton Rouge, facing former star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley, who transferred after two seasons in Columbia.
“It’s good we have somewhat of a bye week,” Staley said. “Maddy wants to play I know that, when you have the mindset you want to play it helps the body heal quicker.”
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Latson returned in full force despite a substantial brace on her left knee, scoring a team-high 21 points to go with four steals. This was after she missed three games from Jan. 1-11 after spraining her ankle on Dec. 28.
“I felt good, I played with a knee brace before at Florida State so I wasn’t too foreign to that,” Latson said. “Just getting back in shape, getting reps in practice has helped me a lot.”
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: Dawn Staley gives injury update for South Carolina vs LSU
