The season is (almost) here. Three things to watch in USC’s exhibition game

The South Carolina women’s basketball season officially begins on Nov. 7, but fans can get a first look at the team even earlier.

The Gamecocks will host an exhibition game at 7 p.m. Monday against Benedict. There is no television or streaming option for the game. Admission is free.

The game will follow FAM Fest, which begins at 5 p.m. outside of Colonial Life Arena with “food trucks, trick-or-treating and plenty of other family fun.”

The Tigers, coached by James Rice, play in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and went 23-8 last season. They also played in last year’s preseason against USC.

A lot can change after an exhibition game, but here are a few things to look for Monday night.

Who’s playing point guard?

With Destanni Henderson moved on to the WNBA, there is no clear replacement for the Gamecocks at point guard. Head coach Dawn Staley told reporters at SEC media day earlier this month that there is no “full-time point guard.”

Senior guard Zia Cooke could receive minutes there, Staley said. The two have talked about Cooke spending time as a floor general and also at her natural position of shooting guard.

Cooke played some point guard in high school but is used more often as a scorer.

Laeticia Amihere started three games at point guard last year when Henderson went down with a leg injury. She’s a starting lineup candidate for a USC team returning four of its starters — Cooke, Aliyah Boston, Brea Beal, Victaria Saxton — from the national championship run. Amihere recorded seven assists in last year’s game against Kansas State.

Graduate senior Kierra Fletcher — a transfer guard from Georgia Tech — is a legitimate option at the point when healthy, as she’d bring experience to the backcourt.

Raven Johnson is in the same boat, as the redshirt freshman guard only appeared in two games last year because of a knee injury that ended her season. Staley said Johnson has practiced 75% of the time.

How will the newcomers look?

South Carolina has three new additions to the roster.

One is Fletcher, a career 9.6 points-per-game scorer. She has 113 college basketball games to her name with the Yellow Jackets, with starts in 111 of them.

Fletcher averaged 13 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game in her last season at Georgia Tech. She hasn’t practiced full-time with South Carolina, but should be an asset when she sees the court. Fletcher is still working her way back from a foot injury sustained last year.

The team has two freshmen as well — forward Ashlyn Watkins and guard Talaysia Cooper.

Watkins brings a lot of athleticism to the Gamecocks, and Staley said she has a “really good feel for the game.” How that plays out remains to be seen, as USC returns a lot of experience.

Still, Watkins carries a lot of upside. She came in as a five-star recruit and was a McDonald’s All-American her senior year of high school at Cardinal Newman.

Staley said Cooper’s been given “a lot of responsibility” on the court, playing several different positions in practice. Cooper scored more than 3,000 points at East Clarendon High School. Staley in September cited her competitive nature both offensively and defensively.

It might take time for the fresh faces to adjust to Staley’s system, but they will join a championship roster.

What about last year’s reserves?

South Carolina has a handful of players who haven’t cracked the starting lineup, but could have key roles — at least in spots — in the 2022-23 campaign.

The most intriguing of those players is junior center Kamilla Cardoso.

Cardoso averaged 5.4 points and 5.1 rebounds in 13.3 minutes per game last season. Staley recently called Cardoso “dominant” based on her performance in practice.

She won ACC Freshman of the Year, ACC co-Defensive Player of the Year and made the All-ACC first team in her lone season at Syracuse. She had five games last year with three blocks or more and six games with 10 or more points.

The team also brings back Raven Johnson, Bree Hall and Sania Feagin. All three spent their first year with the program last year, with Johnson redshirting and Hall and Feagin playing sparingly. Hall and Feagin played 36 and 31 games, respectively, but fewer than 10 minutes per game for each.

All three players were 2021 McDonald’s All-Americans. They could step into bigger roles once this year’s crop of seniors depart. For now, with a year under their belt, they can still help the Gamecocks in spots.