COLUMBIA, S.C. – No. 5/5 South Carolina carries the No. 1 seed into the SEC Tournament quarterfinals Friday, set to face either Vanderbilt or No. 18/17 Tennessee at noon at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina claimed its fourth-straight SEC Regular-Season Championship with 15-1 mark in league play this season. In those four seasons, the Gamecocks went 62-2. The title was the Gamecocks’ ninth in the last 12 seasons.

• Five Gamecocks picked up postseason honors from the SEC’s coaches this week. Forward Joyce Edwards became just the third freshman in program history to earn First-Team All-SEC honors, joining future WNBA No. 1 draft picks A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston in the Gamecock history books. Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley became the third Gamecock to win SEC Sixth Woman of the Year, joining eventual All-Americans Alaina Coates and Kamilla Cardoso in that category. Te-Hina Paopao joined Fulwiley on the All-SEC Second Team, giving her all-conference honors all five years of her college career across two conferences. Two Gamecocks were named to the SEC All-Defensive Team for the fourth time in program history with Sania Feagin earning her first postseason recognition from league coaches and Raven Johnson picking up a postseason award for the third time in her career.

• Playing the toughest regular-season schedule in the nation and winning 27 of its 30 games, South Carolina is No. 2 in the NET rankings and atop the NET strength of schedule ranking.  Their 17 Quad 1 games leads the nation as does their 14 wins in those games. Seven of those games were in non-conference play as head coach Dawn Staley continued her scheduling strategy to prepare her team to face the best in the postseason.

• The Gamecocks are sixth in the nation with 5.8 blocks per game despite not having a dominant center and losing their top shot-blocker to injury in early January. Sania Feagin leads the way with 1.60 per game to rank sixth in the league, rising to 2.05 per SEC game to come in second. The Gamecock guards have been stepping into the gap, blocking 2.03 shots per game as a unit, led by MiLaysia Fulwiley, who is the SEC’s  top shot-blocking guard in league play at 0.94 per game to rank 10th.

• South Carolina continues to stake its success on inside play, leading the nation with 41.9 points in the paint per game, which accounts for 52.1 percent of their offense on the season. Defending the paint impacts the Gamecocks’ success as well, out-scoring opponents by 15.9 points per game in that space and losing the paint battle just twice this season.

• Junior Chloe Kitts is the reigning SEC Player of the Week after she closed the season with a triple-double at Ole Miss and a double-double against #15/14 Kentucky to help the Gamecocks secure their share of the regular-season title. She has been dominant on the glass over the last three weeks, grabbing double-digit boards four times in those six games to average 9.8 in the stretch, including 4.2 on the offensive end. The surge moved her up to fourth in the SEC with 8.25 rebounds per league game and sixth in offensive rebounding in league play at 2.81.

• Local high school stars Joyce Edwards and MiLaysia Fulwiley have thrived for their homestate’s flagship program, especially in SEC action. The team’s top two scorers overall and in league play, the duo has led the team in scoring 20 times this season including 12 of 16 SEC outings.

By the Numbers
9 – South Carolina has been the No. 1 seed in nine of the last 12 SEC Tournaments.

10 – The Gamecocks’ NCAA-leading 10 wins over ranked teams includes five over top-10 foes, which is tied for tops in the nation.

13-3 – Under Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks are 13-3 in their first game at the SEC Tournament.

The Vanderbilt Series
The Gamecocks are 23-21 all-time against the Commodores, including an 18-2 mark in the Dawn Staley era (beginning 2008-09), and have won the last 17 meetings. The two teams have met twice before in the SEC Tournament (1992, 2000) with Vandy winning both.

In the regular-season meeting on Feb. 23 in Nashville, the Gamecock defense locked down in the first and third quarters, especially, to set up the 82-54 victory. MiLaysia Fulwiley tied her career high with 24 points en route to SEC Player of the Week honors. Joyce Edwards posted a 17-point, 12-rebound double-double.

The Tennessee Series
The Gamecocks are 16-49 all-time against the Lady Vols but have a 15-12 mark in the Dawn Staley era, including winning the last eight meetings. South Carolina is 5-3 against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament, including last season’s miracle 3-pointer from Kamilla Cardoso in the waning seconds of the semifinal victory.

The two teams met earlier this season on Jan. 27 in Knoxville where the Gamecocks escaped with a 70-63 victory after holding off a fourth-quarter rally by the Lady Vols.  Five Gamecocks finished with double-figure points, led by Joyce Edwards’ 18, which included four in the pivotal moments of the fourth quarter, which helped her to SEC Freshman of the Week honors.

SEC Tournament Take
South Carolina is 34-25 all-time in the SEC Tournament since joining the league for the 1991-92 season. Head coach Dawn Staley is 31-8 in the event with eight championships, all coming in the last 10 years.

The Gamecocks have reached the tournament championship game nine times, finishing as the runner-up just once. With titles in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018, South Carolina is the only program in league history to win four consecutive SEC Tournament titles, and then added titles in 2020, 2021, 2023 and 2024.

Neutral Stance
The Gamecocks are 174-96 (.644) all-time on a neutral court. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is 91-27 in games played at neutral sites (.771), including a 56-17 (.764) mark in postseason play.