South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley talks to an official during the first half of action of their women’s basketball game against Clemson at Colonial Life Arena on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025.
tglantz@thestate.com
South Carolina and Southern Cal will hit the hardwood Saturday night in a battle for the right to be called “The Real USC.”
The game — the first in a two-game neutral-site series that will be played in Greenville, South Carolina next year — will pit two historic programs that seldom play one another in a Top 10 matchup.
The No. 2 Gamecocks hold a 3-0 advantage over the Trojans in the all-time series. The last matchup came at Colonial Life Arena in 2014. Saturday’s game will be held in Crypto Arena, home of the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers and WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks.
Southern Cal comes into the matchup off a win over then-No. 9 N.C. State that catapulted the Trojans from No. 20 to No. 9 in the latest AP Top 25. This is the Gamecocks’ first regular-season game against a ranked opponent.
“It’s going to be a great game,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said Thursday. “I think they’re a little bit more battle-tested than we are, playing the schedule that they play. Hopefully the teams that we played, and they have, have prepared us for them as far as the type of offenses. Some of them are very similar. So we gotta play.”
How will the Gamecocks look in transition?
Clemson head coach Shawn Poppie said that a goal for this team last week was to slow down and disrupt a South Carolina team that is very good in transition.
The Tigers had some success doing that, but it wasn’t nearly enough to avoid a 65-37 loss. Staley admitted Clemson’s defense caused some disorganization last week but thinks it was a valuable learning experience as the competition continues to get harder and opponents will likely attempt to do the same against the Gamecocks.
“When you take away transition, you have to be organized,” Staley said. “We weren’t organized, and I will own that. We weren’t getting into things that we were familiar with. We kind of let our players play a little bit and freelance. Once you do that, it leads to bad shots. So toward the end of the third quarter, into the fourth quarter, we just really got them into things that were familiar.”
Can Madina Okot be dominant?
The answer to that question is yes. At least in Staley’s eyes, that is.
We’ve seen flashes of what center Madina Okot can be during her three games with South Carolina. She’s averaging 12.3 points, nine rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game for the Gamecocks.
Perhaps the question should be framed as: Will Okot be dominant?
Her 6-foot-6 frame will be crucial against a generally smaller Southern Cal team that typically runs a four-guard lineup. For reference, the Trojans have just one player listed above 6-foot-3 compared with South Carolina’s three. Southern Cal also has five players listed at under 6 feet, while South Carolina has three.
The size difference in the post with Okot, as well as Maryam Dauda and Adhel Tac, could be an advantage in general Saturday, though Southern Cal averages just two fewer rebounds per game than South Carolina so far this year.
Staley has already said the Gamecocks won’t go far this season if Okot can’t be consistently dominant this season. Saturday’s matchup will be the first real test of whether Okot can deliver for South Carolina and be a game changer consistently on a big stage.
Stopping Londynn Jones (and others)
South Carolina might not have played Southern Cal last year, but the Gamecocks did have to face Londynn Jones.
The senior guard spent the last three years of her career at UCLA and lit up the Gamecocks in a matchup last season. She led the Bruins to a 77-62 win with her 15 points, all from 3-point range.
Jones is averaging 17.5 points this season after putting up 16 points in Southern Cal’s opener against New Mexico State and a season-high 19 against NC State.
Jones is just the tip of the iceberg for a talented Southern Cal team, though.
Freshman Jazzy Davidson, who was the No. 1 recruit in last year’s recruiting class, is also averaging 17.5 points per game. Kennedy Smith is also averaging double figures for Southern Cal, with 10.5 points per game.
“Great players,” Staley said. “They can score in a lot of different ways and in bunches, very athletic and quick. It’s not going to be just one person to guard. We’ve got to figure out how we create layers to our defense so they don’t get easy looks. The most important thing is to make them work for catches. Make them work for good looks. And we’ve got to be committed to that as an overall team.”
South Carolina vs Southern Cal: How to watch
- Who: No. 2 South Carolina (3-0) vs. No. 9 Southern Cal (2-0)
- When: 9 p.m. Saturday
- Where: Crypto Arena in Los Angeles
- TV: Fox
- Radio: 107.5 FM, Sirius XM 117 or 190 (Brad Muller)
Michael Sauls is The State’s South Carolina women’s basketball reporter. He previously worked at The Virginian-Pilot covering Norfolk State and Hampton University sports. A Columbia native, he is an alum of the University of South Carolina.
