Women's Basketball Game of the Week: Oklahoma vs. South Carolina

Gamecocks play host to the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners on Sunday, Jan. 19.

South Carolina has had some fast and powerful starts to their last three games, throwing out their old trend of holding off until the second quarter to fuel the fire. Over the last three outings, the Gamecocks have won the first quarter by an average of 11.0 points thanks to 56.1 percent shooting and a defense effort that allowed just 22.6 percent accuracy.

The Gamecocks are currently leading the nation with six wins over ranked opponents, against whom they have a +16.9 scoring margin.

South Carolina's defense has smothered SEC opponents so far this season, leading the league in scoring defense, field goal percentage defense, and blocks per game. The Gamecocks also pace the conference with a +26.8 scoring margin, .840 free throw percentage and 44.0 rebounds per game in league play.

All of these impressive stats and continued dominating force in women's college basketball are nothing new for South Carolina as they look to capture another National Championship.

This face-off with Oklahoma comes just after South Carolina's head coach Dawn Staley became the highest-paid women's basketball coach with a new $25M deal and extension contract.

The Gamecocks' most notable players this season include leading scorer Joyce Edwards, a freshman who started her career in the SEC hot.

National Player of the Year candidate Te-Hina Paopao’s impact on the Gamecocks’ success goes beyond her scoring, which includes a team-high 13.1 points per game against ranked opponents. She also currently leads her team in assists with 50 and has led to 6.7 points per game, meaning the fifth-year senior has her hands on 23.3 percent of the Gamecocks’ offense.

Moving over to the Sooners' side of things, it is clear that Oklahoma is a force to be reckoned with.

The Sooners have scored 70 points in every single game this season, tying a program record of 18 straight 70-point games. Oklahoma scored 88.1 PPG (4th NCAA), which would set a program record for scoring offense in a season, besting the 1985 Sooners' 84.5 PPG. Over the last four seasons, OU has been the only team in the nation to average 80.0 PPG each year.

Payton Verhulst scored a career-high 38 points and made six 3-pointers to help No. 13 Oklahoma beat Missouri on Thursday night. Verhulst tied Phylesha Whaley for fifth on Oklahoma's single-game scoring list.

Verhulst scored 18 points in the opening five minutes of the third quarter and started the second half with a personal 9-0 run to give her 24 of Oklahoma's 48 points, while Missouri had 32. She also added seven straight points to give the Sooners a 21-point lead with 5:05 left in the frame.

A win against South Carolina today would snap South Carolina's home win streak (67 games) and SEC regular season win streak (52 games).

With two equally powerful teams and history to match, this SEC battle is one for the ages and is a must-watch this Sunday.

Brooke Casey is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact her email, bec5457@psu.edu