SEC game dates set for USC women’s basketball. Full 2024-25 schedule nearly complete

Payton Titus
Tracy Glantz/tglantz@thestate.com

The 2024-25 conference schedule for South Carolina women’s basketball is complete, headlined by a home-and-home against SEC newcomer Texas.

The Gamecocks will play 16 conference games, with SEC play beginning Thursday, Jan. 2 at Missouri. The dates for conference play were released Wednesday. Game times and TV networks will be announced at a later date.

USC’s conference schedule is highlighted by battles with Texas (two at that), LSU, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Tennessee. South Carolina will host the Longhorns on Jan. 12 and then play them in Austin on Feb. 9. The Sooners will come to Colonial Life Arena Jan. 19, followed by Kim Mulkey’s Tigers Jan. 23 and the Wildcats March 2 to end the regular season. The Gamecocks will meet the Lady Vols in Knoxville Jan. 27. The SEC Tournament will take place March 5-9 in Greenville.

A full South Carolina women’s basketball schedule that includes every non-conference game is expected in the coming weeks.

USC has already announced 12 non-conference opponents, not including Clemson, though a Tigers spokesperson confirmed to The State that the game is happening. Coach Dawn Staley said in an X post last week USC agreed to a home-and-home with an HBCU. That leaves one mystery game remaining.

Here are three takeaways from Wednesday’s conference schedule reveal:

Biggest game(s): South Carolina vs. Texas

Texas was the No. 6 team in ESPN’s way-too-early Top 25 rankings published in May, but both Gamecocks-Longhorns games could be top-five matchups.

UT returns one of the best backcourts in the country headlined by Rori Harmon (who missed a majority of the 2023-24 season with a torn ACL) and Madison Booker. After 12 games, Harmon led the nation with a 6.64 assist-turnover ratio (93 assists to 14 turnovers). Booker stepped up in Harmon’s place after her injury, becoming the first freshman in Big 12 history to win the league’s player of the year award.

The Longhorns also bolstered their front-court over the offseason after four forwards entered the transfer portal. In addition to 6-foot-4 Taylor Jones and 6-1 Aaliyah Moore, Texas picked up 6-6 forward Kyla Oldacre from Miami. Oldacre was the No. 25 recruit in the class of 2022 and a McDonald’s All-American.

This season marks Vic Schaefer’s return to the SEC. He coached at Mississippi State for eight years (2011-20), where his Bulldogs and Staley’s Gamecocks formed a bit of a rivalry. Schaefer coached the MSU team that USC defeated en route to its first national championship in 2017.

Other high-profile conference matchups

In addition to South Carolina ranked No. 1 and Texas at No. 6, five other SEC teams made ESPN’s way-too-early Top 25: No. 7 LSU, No. 13 Oklahoma, No. 21 Alabama, No. 23 Ole Miss and No. 25 Kentucky.

Some of the most intriguing matchups on South Carolina’s conference schedule this season come against LSU, Oklahoma and Kentucky — which will all be played at Colonial Life Arena.

LSU is still stacked, even after losing Angel Reese to the WNBA and Hailey Van Lith to TCU via the transfer portal. Flau’jae Johnson, Aneesah Morrow and SEC freshman of the year Mikaylah Williams are all back, leaving much of the team that gave USC a hard time during the regular season and the 2024 SEC championship game intact.

Mulkey also brought in Shayeann Day-Wilson (Miami’s 2023-24 leading scorer and 2022 ACC freshman of the year at Duke), Kailyn Gilbert (Arizona’s leading scorer before she left the team after 23 games) and Mjracle Sheppard (who led Mississippi State’s upset of LSU last season) from the portal. Jersey Wolfenbarger, a 6-foot-5 McDonald’s All-American who did not play last season after two years at Arkansas, has also joined the Tigers.

Ahead of its inaugural SEC season, Oklahoma added 6-foot-4 Reagan Beers, who had 16 points and eight rebounds for the Oregon State Beavers in their Elite 8 loss to the Gamecocks in March, to its ranks via the portal. OU also returns a wealth of experience in co-Big 12 player of the year Skylar Vann, second-leading scorer Payton Verhulst, senior Liz Scott and freshmen Sahara Williams, Nevaeh Tot, Aubrey Joebs and Lexy Keys. The Sooners are in for a challenge playing at CLA, but they are a formidable opponent for the Gamecocks.

Kentucky has had an extremely eventful offseason with the hiring of former Virginia Tech coach Kenny Brooks. Star point guard Georgia Amoore followed Brooks from Blacksburg to Lexington, as did Clara Strack, top-50 recruit Lexi Blue and 6-3 JUCO transfer Amelia Hassett. Brooks also added 6-4 Teonni Key from North Carolina. It’ll be interesting to see what strides the Wildcats can make in Year 1 of the Kenny Brooks era. Perhaps his tenure will see a rekindling of the UK-USC rivalry not seen since Rhyne Howard left for the WNBA.

New-look Tennessee with a familiar face. Plus a Kitts sister reunion

Tennessee has also had a busy offseason with the firing of head coach Kellie Harper after five seasons and the hiring of former Marshall coach Kim Caldwell.

The Lady Vols are without star forward Rickea Jackson, who now plays for the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks. But fifth-year seniors Jewel Spear, Rapuluchi Ayodele and Tess Darby return, as do fourth-year seniors Sara Puckett, Kaiya Wynn, Samara Spencer and Jillian Hollingshead. Former Gamecock Talaysia Cooper will be eligible for Tennessee after sitting out the 2023-24 season after she transferred outside the portal window.

Also, Gamecock Chloe Kitts’ sister Kylee is starting her freshman year at Florida. She, like Chloe, reclassified to the class of 2024. UF and USC faceoff Feb. 13 in Columbia.

South Carolina women’s basketball 2023-24 SEC schedule

  • Jan. 2: at Missouri

  • Jan. 5: at Mississippi State

  • Jan. 9: vs. Texas A&M

  • Jan. 12: vs. Texas

  • Jan. 16: at Alabama

  • Jan. 19: vs. Oklahoma

  • Jan. 23: vs. LSU

  • Jan. 27: at Tennessee

  • Feb. 2: vs. Auburn

  • Feb. 6: at Georgia

  • Feb. 9: at Texas

  • Feb. 13: vs. Florida

  • Feb. 20: vs. Arkansas

  • Feb. 23: at Vanderbilt

  • Feb. 27: at Ole Miss

  • Mar. 2: vs. Kentucky

  • Mar. 5-9: SEC Tournament in Greenville, S.C.

South Carolina women’s basketball 2023-24 non-conference schedule:

Below are the known games as of Aug. 20:

  • Exhibition: Oct. 15 at Memphis

  • Nov. 4: vs Michigan in Las Vegas

  • Nov. 10: vs. N.C. State in Charlotte

  • Nov. 17: vs. East Carolina

  • Nov. 24: at UCLA

  • Nov. 28-30: Fort Myers Tip-Off (vs. Iowa State, Purdue)

  • Dec. 5: vs. Duke (ACC/SEC Challenge)

  • Dec. 8: vs. TCU in Fort Worth, Texas

  • Dec. 15: vs. USF

  • Dec. 19: vs. Charleston Southern

  • Dec. 29: vs. Wofford

  • TBD: at Clemson

  • Feb. 16: vs. UConn

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