South Carolina and LSU will play on Friday evening in one of the biggest college basketball games of the year. The No. 2 Gamecocks and No. 5 Tigers are two of the three legitimate national championship contenders in the SEC. USC already knocked off the other with a lopsided win over the Texas Longhorns. Now, Dawn Staley’s team is looking to continue its winning ways against Kim Mulkey’s LSU squad. A victory would put Carolina in sole possession of first place in the SEC.
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Heading into another top 5 matchup, the SEC-mandated availability report revealed no surprises for either team.
Ashlyn Watkins (ACL tear) will be out for the rest of the 2024-2025 season. However, the report included no other Gamecocks for the fourth game in a row.
For LSU, only guard Izzy Besselman made the report. Carrying an “out” designation, Besselman’s absence continues thanks to an ongoing heart condition. She has not played this season for the Bayou Bengals.
With two of the best teams in the nation relatively healthy, Friday’s contest should be a good one.
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South Carolina is going for its 17th win in a row over LSU on Friday. With a win, the Gamecocks also would extend their current winning streak to 13 games and their regular season SEC streak to a whopping 54 games. That is an all-time SEC record. Carolina has not lost a conference game in the regular season since 2021.
Tip-off for the Gamecocks vs. Tigers rivalry matchup will be at 5:00 p.m. Because of Winter Storm Enzo, this is a rescheduled time from the original Thursday-at-8:00 slot. ESPN will broadcast the contest, while the ESPN app will make it available for streaming.
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