Iron sharpens iron: The 7 toughest games for USC women’s basketball in 2022-23

Jeremiah Holloway
Tracy Glantz/tglantz@thestate.com

The South Carolina’s women’s basketball team will have its hands full defending its national title.

The preseason No. 1 Gamecocks return many of their best players, but will face some of the top teams in college basketball this season.

Six of USC’s opponents are beginning the season in The Associated Press Top 25, and 10 of them made the NCAA tournament last year.

South Carolina won all 14 of its games against ranked opponents last season.

Here are the Gamecocks’ toughest matchups for 2022-23.

at No. 17 Maryland, Nov. 11

South Carolina faces a familiar opponent early in the season.

The Gamecocks faced the Terrapins at home last year and won by seven points. In November, USC will head up to College Park. This game is the first of a home-and-home series the teams agreed to play, with next year’s game taking place in Columbia.

Maryland went 23-9 overall last season and narrowly lost to Stanford in the Sweet 16. The Terrapins finished 13-4 in the Big 10.

The team was seventh in the country with 78.8 points per game, but USC held Maryland to 59 in last year’s game.

November’s meeting will be the second regular-season game for both teams.

at No. 2 Stanford, Nov. 20

The Gamecocks and the Cardinal have become rivals of late.

South Carolina narrowly lost to Stanford in the 2021 Final Four after a pair of late misses in the final seconds. The team avenged that loss last season with a comeback 65-61 win at home.

Stanford enters the year as the second-best team in the country. It is led by preseason All-American Haley Jones. The Gamecocks have a preseason All-American of their own in Aliyah Boston, who had 18 points and 11 rebounds in last year’s game.

The team is led by Tara VanDerveer, the winningest coach in women’s college basketball history with three national titles to her name. She guided Stanford to a perfect 16-0 record in the Pac-12 last year.

The Cardinal made it to the Final Four last season and lost to the UConn Huskies. The team won the national championship in 2021.

home vs. UCLA, Nov. 29

UCLA is not ranked in the Top 25, but the Pac-12 opponent does present the toughest non-conference home challenge for the Gamecocks.

The Bruins were 18-13 and missed the NCAA tournament last season, but were a game away from the WNIT Championship, losing to South Dakota State.

UCLA went 26-5 and 17-6 in its previous two seasons (2018-19 and 2019-20). The Bruins are 228-121 under head coach Cori Close.

The team returns its leading scorer Charisma Osborne, who averaged 16.4 points per game last season. It also brings in Gina Conti, a transfer guard from Wake Forest who can help bring a scoring lift.

neutral vs. No. 23 South Dakota State, Dec. 15

South Dakota State won the WNIT last season and finished with a 29-9 record. The team finished 17-1 in the Summit League.

The Jackrabbits averaged 74.8 points per game last year, which was 21st out of 348 teams in Division I women’s basketball. It also finished 13th in assists per game with 17.4.

South Dakota State picked up a win against then-No. 15 UCLA last season, and wins against ranked teams Gonzaga, Iowa State and Missouri State the year before.

Head coach Aaron Johnston is in his 23rd season with the Jackrabbits. He’s won conference Coach of the Year six times.

This game will be played in Sioux Falls, away from South Dakota State’s home court in Brookings.

at No. 6 UConn, Feb. 5

February’s game will be the first between South Carolina and UConn since April’s national championship.

The Gamecocks beat the Huskies twice last season: in the national title game and in a regular-season tournament. The teams would have faced off an additional time, but the game was canceled so USC could reschedule an SEC game against Ole Miss.

UConn is compromised by injuries. The team lost star guard Paige Bueckers for the year due to an ACL tear and freshman forward Ice Brady to a dislocated patella.

The Huskies still have Azzi Fudd — a Big East All-Freshman team selection last year — among other returning players from last year.

Geno Auriemma has led UConn to 11 national championships, with the last one coming in 2016.

home vs. No. 16 LSU, Feb. 12

South Carolina’s lone SEC home game against a preseason Top 25 opponent comes against the Tigers.

LSU added double-double machine Angel Reese through the transfer portal. Reese transferred from Maryland, a team she played with when the Gamecocks defeated the Terrapins last season.

The Tigers went 13-3 in the SEC last year and finished the regular season second to South Carolina. LSU was 6-2 against ranked opponents last year. The Kim Mulkey-led team was also the highest-scoring team in the conference at 73.8 points per game.

USC won last year’s meeting in a close game in Baton Rouge. This matchup is likely the most important home game for the Gamecocks.

at No. 5 Tennessee, Feb. 23

The Gamecocks visit Tennessee in the second-to-last game of the regular season.

The Lady Volunteers reached the Sweet 16 in 2022 before losing to Louisville. They open the year as the fifth-ranked team in the nation.

Tennessee finished third in the SEC last season with a 11-5 conference record.

It added transfer forward Rickea Jackson from Mississippi State. Jackson averaged 20.3 points per game last year, but transferred in the middle of the year. The team also returns Jordan Horston, who was leading the team in scoring before suffering an elbow injury.

The Lady Volunteers last beat South Carolina in 2021 in Knoxville.

USC WBB 2022-23 SCHEDULE

  • Oct. 31: home vs. Benedict (exhibition), 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Nov. 7: home vs. ETSU, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Nov. 11: at Maryland, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

  • Nov. 17: at Clemson, 7 p.m. (ACC Network)

  • Nov. 20: at Stanford, 3 p.m. (ABC)

  • Nov. 22: at Cal Poly, 8 p.m. (TV/stream is TBD)

  • Nov. 27: home vs. Hampton, noon (SEC Network Plus)

  • Nov. 29: home vs. UCLA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Dec. 3: home vs. Memphis, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 11: home vs. Liberty, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 15: at South Dakota State, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

  • Dec. 18: home vs. Charleston Southern, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec 21: home vs. Coastal Carolina, noon (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 29: home vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 2: at Georgia, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 5: home vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Jan. 8: at Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 12: at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Jan. 15: home vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 19: at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 22: home vs. Arkansas, 3 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 29: at Alabama, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Feb. 2: home vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 5: at UConn, noon (Fox)

  • Feb. 9: at Auburn, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Feb. 12: home vs. LSU, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 16: home vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Feb. 19: at Ole Miss, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 23: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

  • Feb. 26: home vs. Georgia, noon (SEC Network or ESPN2)

Advertisement