Women’s basketball looks to fill holes left by Walker, Bruner
With the squeaks of sneakers on hardwood and the swish of the ball hitting the net, the women’s basketball team hit the court Tuesday for its first practice of the year.
“It’s the first day of practice, so it’s really just working out the kinks, just getting a feel for everybody, getting used to the drills and picking up the intensity,” junior forward Aleighsa Welch said. “It’s a lot different intensity than individual workouts or pickups.”
Coming off back-to-back 25-win seasons and NCAA tournament appearances, the Gamecocks have lost two of their top performers from the last two seasons: guard Ieasia Walker and forward Ashley Bruner. Walker led the team in rebounds per game (8.1), and Bruner was second on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points per game.
But the most significant facet of South Carolina’s game that needs replacing is the defense.
Welch said that to replace Walker and Bruner, players will need to embrace their roles and step up even more.
“If you embrace it and say, ‘I’m going to affect this team in another way other than scoring,’ that’s how the team will come together,” Walker said. “If we can get everybody to embrace the roles that they are given, especially on the defensive end, then we will be fine.”
While working on the defense, coach Dawn Staley does not want an explosive offense to fall by the wayside.
“I’m not going to jinx ourselves, but I am hoping and praying that we can score some more points. We’ve been doing some things differently, like we’ll open the floor up and let some of our scorers do what they do,” Staley said. “We like to push it and not get bogged down in half-court sets. They’re well conditioned, so we’re going to let them run up and down a little bit.”
To help open up that offense, the team plans on using a bigger lineup, utilizing the two centers on the team, junior Elem Ibiam and highly-touted freshman Alaina Coates.
“[Coates] can get up and down the floor with the best of them. Conceptually, she’s picking up what we want. Being an intense practice, it weighs on her, but at the same time, she’s not shying away from it; she’s done quite well,” Staley said. “I don’t think we’ve had a player as strong as she is physically. We got to tap into that.”
That presence inside will help free up shooters on the perimeter to hit open shots.
“It helps tremendously, because if we have some one that can knock down open shots, that opens up lanes for my teammates and myself,” sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell said. “Before, it was all clogged with no spacing. With them being able to hit shots, it will open up a lot of lanes for us.”
With the team returning only two starters, there is a void of leadership that Welch will look to fill. She especially wants to help younger players get focused on their game.
“Just talking to them, encouraging them, letting them know that it’s a day-by-day process,” Welch said. “We’ve all been there before. We’ve all had our first year where we were just looking around wondering where we stand, but it’s going to get better.”
Staley believes this is a team that wants to get better and is willing to put the time in to get there.
With all the talent on the team, young and old, the team seems poised to make a deep run in the SEC and in the NCAA tournament.
“They don’t mind getting in the gym on their own; they don’t mind watching a little film; they don’t mind doing the little things or [making] the sacrifices to become better. So they’re driven in that way, and I don’t think we’ve had a team in which everybody wants to get better, everyone wants to participate, and everyone wants to play,” Staley said. “They’re putting in the time to do that.”