The No. 2 South Carolina women’s basketball team (18-1, 6-0) is hosting the No. 5 LSU Tigers (20-0, 5-0) on Thursday night in a battle between two top-5 teams. ESPN’s College GameDay will be in town, broadcasting live from Colonial Life Arena.
The Daily Gamecock interviewed senior sports reporter Tyler Harden of LSU’s The Reveille to discuss this new chapter in the rivalry between the Gamecocks and the Tigers. Tip-off is set for 8 p.m. at Colonial Life Arena, and the broadcast will be on ESPN.
Daily Gamecock: I know they are undefeated ... but what are your thoughts about this LSU team so far this season?
Harden: “I think the common thing ... is consistency, right? Especially from the guard position, I feel like turnovers can be a common thing, more times than others in games ... It’s the big thing with this team, but when they’re on, they’re on. We see it from (junior guard) Flau’Jae Johnson, we see it from (sophomore guard) Mikaylah Williams and (senior guard) Aneesah Morrow ... They kind of just take turns carrying the torch in games ... I feel like it’s a little different in the fact that it could be anyone’s game at any given point.”
What has it been like to see the improvement from Flau’Jae Johnson and Aneesah Morrow into two of the best players in the country?
“I feel like when you bring both of their games together, it’s just who can control the boards. You know, (Johnson), she’s kind of a Swiss army knife in a way, where she could beat you on the perimeter, but she can also beat you on the boards, she could drive to the basket, she can be a lockdown defender, she could just do it all ... But (Morrow), just being an undersized forward and controlling the boards the way she does. In LSU terms, it’s very hard to compare the two, but she’s kind of filling the shoes of (former LSU forward) Angel Reese as best as she could.”
What’s something about this South Carolina team that gives you a little bit of worry?
“With South Carolina, it’s been this way for the past few years, it just comes down to depth. This team, they rotate their entire roster in and out of games ... This whole roster can legitimately provide good minutes. Depth is always an issue with South Carolina, but like LSU ... it could be anybody’s game on any given day ... They’re all dynamic in their own ways, and when you couple that with the depth that they do have, they’re just going to be a top-five team year in and year out.”
Who is an under-the-radar piece of this team who could be the difference-maker in March?
“I’m going to go with (junior guard) Kailyn Gilbert on that ... She’s a transfer from Arizona, she came into the system ... It’s a newer system where Coach (Kim) Mulkey challenged her ... But I feel like she’s getting to the peak of her game right now in conference play, and I feel like she’s a player that could step up.”
How much hype do you think will be brought to the game with College GameDay coming to town, despite some of the big names of this matchup having moved on to the WNBA?
“I feel like that’s just it: the big names have moved on to the WNBA, and there’s new names that could emerge now. We know what Johnson is. We know Morrow, who she is. We know Williams, we know (junior forward) Chloe Kitts, we know (sophomore guard) MiLaysia Fulwiley ... I feel like all those names I just mentioned can emerge in this type of game with all these eyes. It takes one game as a lot of people say, and this could very well be the game for a lot of those players to just get into that other gear. It’s exciting for the game, having this type of opportunity for a lot of these players to fill in these shoes.”
Score prediction?
“I predicted South Carolina last year ... so I have to be careful here ... I’m going to go LSU this year, though. I just feel like this is going to be a game, and I’m going to go LSU 78-74.”