South Carolina is trying to stay with Texas atop the SEC standings. Kentucky is eager to finish in the top four and earn “double bye” status for the conference tournament. While the first-ranked Longhorns play the Florida Gators on Sunday, the defending champion Gamecocks will be home favorites against the No. 15 Wildcats.
How to watch No. 15 Kentucky at No. 6 South Carolina
Venue: Colonial Life Arena — Columbia, S.C.
Time: 2 p.m. ET, Sunday
TV: ESPN
Streaming: Fubo (try for free)
Watching in-person? Get tickets on StubHub
Dawn Staley’s reigning champs went 10 weeks without losing a game, then took two high-profile Ls in February. Falling 4 points short at Texas is understandable, if dispiriting, but the home blowout administered by UConn was very strange. South Carolina has since responded with three comfortable wins. It beat Ole Miss by 16 on Thursday night; junior Chloe Kitts dropped a clean, efficient triple-double and added four steals. She was really diming in Oxford:
South Carolina has the toughest strength of schedule in Division I, and Basketball Reference has the Gamecocks No. 1 in their simple rating system (SRS). SEC opponents are shooting a nose-holding 34 percent from the floor, and South Carolina is cruising in turnover and free throw differentials. Freshman phenom Joyce Edwards has been averaging more than 15 points per game since the New Year. Smooth-shooting Te-Hina Paopao will be a first-round pick in this spring’s WNBA Draft.
Kentucky just ran Tennessee off the floor and played LSU tough in Feb. 23’s seven-point loss. If Kenny Brooks and the Wildcats were to pull an enormous upset, it would start with Georgia Amoore. The fifth-year Australian has netted multiple 3s in four straight games; she attempted eight against the Vols and 15 (!) against the Tigers. There’s a low floor here, but an all-out Amoore heat-check would be one way to close the talent gap between these two teams. Sophomore center Clara Strack leads the conference in blocked shots and has turned a corner offensively. She went 11-for-11 — including a pindown trey — in the Tennessee win. Strack faces a deep Gamecocks frontcourt that’s strong on the boards.
If the home squad wins, they’ll at least tie for a regular-season SEC title. Madison Booker and the Longhorns will be colossal favorites against 5-10 Florida on Sunday.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
South Carolina Gamecocks, Kentucky Wildcats, Women’s College Basketball, Sports Betting
2025 The Athletic Media Company
