Gamecocks Against the Field
This season, South Carolina faced 11 of the 68 teams in the NCAA Tournament field, three of which are in the Greenville 1 Region with them. The Gamecocks went 14-0 against those 10 teams, including a 9-0 mark against the six other SEC teams in the field.
In addition to their six league rivals in the field – Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Missisippi State, Ole Miss, Tennessee – South Carolina played non-conference games at Maryland, vs. South Dakota State, at Stanford, against UCLA and at UConn.
The 11 teams include another No. 1 seed, two No. 2 seeds, a No. 3 seed and two No. 4 seeds.
National Recognition
A trio of Gamecock seniors are piling up national recognitions as the season winds down with 2022 National Player of the Year Aliyah Boston leading the way with First-Team All-America honors from the Associated Press, USBWA and The Athletic so far. She is a finalist for the :Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award and Naismith Defensive Player of the Year. Boston is on all three of the most current national player of the year watch lists, and earned First-Team Academic All-America honors for the third time in her career.
Zia Cooke is a Third-Team All-American, according to the AP and USBWA. She is a finalist for the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year Award and the Dawn Staley Award.
Brea Beal joined Boston as one of four finalists for Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
Free for All
The Gamecocks go to the free throw line at one of the highest rates in the nation, ranking 14th in the nation with 15.6 made free throws per game.
Seniors Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston go to the line more than any other Gamecocks (128 attempts each) and shoot the best percentages from the stripe. Cooke’s 102 made free throws lead the team, and her 79.7 percent accuracy ranks sixth in the SEC. Boston has made 98 free throws with 76.6 percent accuracy to rank ninth in the league.