South Carolina vs. Charleston: The First 10 Minutes Could Tell Us a Lot About the Gamecocks

South Carolina women’s basketball is about to give fans their first real look at the 2026-27 team.

The setting will be anything but ordinary.

The Gamecocks will face College of Charleston on Sunday at Credit One Stadium in Charleston in what will be South Carolina’s first outdoor basketball game.

Tipoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. ET, with the game streaming on ESPN+.

But while the outdoor setting will naturally attract most of the attention, there is another reason this exhibition deserves a close look.

This is the first opportunity to see how Dawn Staley is putting together a team that has undergone significant change.

South Carolina returns six letterwinners from last season, including Joyce Edwards and Tessa Johnson.

The Gamecocks also welcome seven newcomers, including transfers Jordan Lee and Brooke Quarles-Daniels.

At the same time, Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins are returning after missing last season with knee injuries.

That leaves Staley with plenty of pieces to work with.

The question is how those pieces fit together.

And the opening minutes against Charleston could provide some of the first clues.

1. Who takes control of the offense?

This is arguably the biggest question surrounding South Carolina entering the new season.

Raven Johnson is gone after serving as the team’s primary point guard for nearly four seasons.

Maddy McDaniel, who had been expected to provide another option at the position, also left the program during the offseason.

Staley has already made it clear that she isn’t looking for another player to simply become “the next Raven Johnson.”

Instead, South Carolina is experimenting with multiple primary ballhandlers.

Brooke Quarles-Daniels and Tessa Johnson have both received opportunities at point guard during practice.

Staley said the team wants its primary ballhandler to give the ball up quickly rather than holding it and trying to create everything herself.

That makes the first few offensive possessions worth watching closely.

Who brings the ball across half court?

Who initiates the first action?

Does South Carolina repeatedly put the ball in one player’s hands, or does the responsibility move around?

The answer could tell us more about the offense than the final score.

2. Where does Joyce Edwards operate?

Edwards enters the season as one of South Carolina’s most important returning players.

She averaged 19.2 points and 6.8 rebounds last season, and her 728 points broke a South Carolina program record for a single season.

But Sunday isn’t just about finding out whether Edwards can score.

Watch where she gets her touches.

If she spends most of her possessions around the basket, South Carolina could be emphasizing its interior advantage.

If she spends more time operating from the perimeter or initiating actions, that could indicate Staley is looking for a more versatile role from her.

There is another reason this matters.

Chloe Kitts is back.

And the presence of another experienced frontcourt player could change the way South Carolina uses Edwards.

3. What changes when Chloe Kitts is on the floor?

Kitts missed the entire 2025-26 season after tearing her ACL in October 2025.

Before the injury, she averaged 10.2 points and a team-high 7.7 rebounds during the 2024-25 season.

She has now returned to practice and said she feels great.

She has also been practicing without a knee brace.

The interesting part Sunday won’t necessarily be Kitts’ scoring numbers.

It will be how her presence affects everyone else.

Does Edwards have more space?

Does South Carolina have another reliable interior option?

Can Kitts pull defenders away from the paint?

Does Staley use the two together for extended stretches?

Those questions could reveal much more about Kitts’ importance than a box score.

4. How connected does the defense look?

This could be one of the easiest things for fans to overlook.

Exhibition basketball often produces mistakes.

Players are learning new roles.

Newcomers are learning a new system.

Returning players are adjusting to different responsibilities.

Staley has already acknowledged that mistakes will happen at this stage.

That means a bad pass or missed shot shouldn’t necessarily dominate the evaluation of Sunday’s performance.

Instead, pay attention to the defensive details.

Who communicates when a screen is coming?

Who calls out rotations?

How quickly does the team recover after a defensive breakdown?

Do the five players move together?

Those details can reveal whether the team is developing the defensive connectivity Staley expects.

5. Which newcomers look comfortable?

South Carolina brought in seven newcomers for the 2026-27 season.

The group includes transfers Jordan Lee and Brooke Quarles-Daniels, along with freshmen Oliviyah Edwards, Jerzy Robinson, Kaeli Wynn, Kelsi Andrews and Justine Loubens.

That means there will be plenty of new faces on the floor.

But fans shouldn’t judge the newcomers simply by asking who scores the most.

The more revealing question is how quickly they understand their assignments.

Do they know where to be when the ball moves?

Do they make the extra pass?

Do they communicate defensively?

Do they play at the same pace as the returning players?

Jordan Lee, for example, is still adjusting to South Carolina’s system, according to Staley’s comments after the first official practice.

That makes Sunday an important early checkpoint for players still learning how Staley wants them to play.

The first 10 minutes may matter more than the final score

There is a temptation to judge an exhibition game by the final margin.

That probably isn’t the best way to view Sunday’s game.

South Carolina has only just started its official preseason practice.

The team has six returning letterwinners and seven newcomers, while Kitts and Watkins are both returning from ACL injuries.

There is also a long way to go before the regular season begins.

South Carolina’s official regular-season opener is Nov. 2 against Maryland in Paris.

Sunday is therefore less about proving what this team will be and more about showing what it might become.

The first few minutes could reveal who Staley trusts with the ball.

They could show how Edwards and Kitts are being used together.

They could provide an early indication of how the newcomers are adapting.

And they could show whether South Carolina’s defense already has the communication and connectivity Staley wants.

The outdoor setting will make Sunday’s exhibition unlike anything South Carolina has done before.

But once the ball goes up, the most interesting story won’t be the stadium.

It will be the basketball.

And for Gamecock fans, the first 10 minutes could provide the earliest glimpse yet of what this new version of South Carolina women’s basketball is going to look like.