Kara Lawson vs. Dawn Staley: Can No. 25 Duke upend top-ranked South Carolina?

Wednesday night's matchup between Duke and South Carolina seems a lot more interesting now than it might have when schedules were released prior to the season.

Who would have known then that Duke, which sat out most of last season due to COVID-19 concerns, would return to the Top 25 with an 8-0 record heading into a home game against No. 1 South Carolina?

Expectations were high for the Kara Lawson-led Blue Devils, but a win over No. 9 Iowa two games ago might have exceeded even the most optimistic outlooks.

Here's what to watch for as No. 25 Duke hosts No. 1 South Carolina at Cameron Indoor Stadium at 7 p.m. ET (ACC Network).

Scoring output

Duke has three players averaging double figures in Celeste Taylor (14.4 ppg), Shayeann Day-Wilson (13.3 ppg) and Lexi Gordon (11.1 ppg). Imani Lewis is right behind them with 9.3 ppg. 

The Blue Devils rank third in the ACC in scoring offense, behind UNC and NC State with an 80.75 ppg average. Duke is also third in scoring margin, with its wins coming by an average of 22.0 points.

The Devils' .479 field-goal percentage ranks second in the league, and so does their assists per game (18.13). 

Most of Duke's offensive output comes from the perimeter, and that's good in a matchup like this one because South Carolina boasts the toughest post in the country with All-American and player of the year candidate Aliyah Boston (6-foot-5), Kamilla Cordoso (6-7) and Victaria Saxton (6-2).

Duke has only one player over 6-1, and that's Amaya Finkea-Guity, who played with Cordoso while both were at Syracuse.

GAMECOCKS:South Carolina still unanimous No. 1 in USA TODAY Sports poll

RANKINGS:Full USA TODAY Sports women's basketball poll

SPORTS NEWSLETTER: Sign up now for daily updates

Rebuilt roster

Lawson, who played for Pat Summitt at Tennessee, used the transfer portal to transform Duke's roster this season in her second year as coach.

Seven of the 15 players on Duke's roster are new transfers and two are freshmen, so this season's roster is a complete departure from 2020-21. Only four players remain from the COVID-19-shortened season.

Taylor played two seasons at Texas, was named to the All-Big 12 freshman team, and averaged 12.3 points and 4.9 rebounds as a sophomore.

Lewis averaged 15.0 points and 8.8 rebounds as a junior at Wisconsin last season to make the All-Big Ten team.

Nyah Green comes from Louisville, where she was a redshirt sophomore after being named a McDonald's All-American from Texas.

Guard/forward Lexi Gordon averaged 15.7 points and 4.8 rebounds as a senior at Texas Tech last season.  

"Trying to integrate them playing together is a challenge I think we all, as coaches, face," Lawson said before the season started. "Not only do we have nine new players, it’s a new system for them, too. But we are progressing in that way. They’re improving, they’re getting better."

Gamecocks on a tear

South Carolina is 10-0, and four of those wins have come against top-10 teams. 

The Gamecocks dealt No. 2 NC State its only loss of the season, they beat then-No. 9 Oregon by 17 points and the very next day stomped then-No. 2 Connecticut 73-57. 

South Carolina's last game was a 66-59 victory over No. 8 Maryland.

“You have to feed them,” Gamecocks coach and former Virginia Final Four guard Dawn Staley said earlier this season about the challenging schedule. “They want to play the very best teams in the country. They want to measure themselves.”

Besides South Carolina's dominant post, guards Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson pose scoring threats and both are offensive facilitators from outside.

And Staley emphasizes defense. The Gamecocks lead the country with 9.2 blocks per game and they rank second with a rebound margin of 18.8 per game.

Despite playing some of the nation's most productive offenses, South Carolina ranks No. 12 in scoring defense, allowing an average of 50.6 points per game.

Clinton's Mikayla Boykin has transferred

Clinton High School record-setter Mikayla Boykin, who led the Dark Horses to a state title in 2017 as the North Carolina Player of the Year with averages of 37.4 points, 13.7 rebounds, 6.5 assists and 5.6 steals as a senior, left Duke after last season.

She joined two other Blue Devils — Sara Anastasieska and Jayda Adams — in the transfer portal last January and in April, the Charlotte 49ers announced that Boykin had joined their roster.

She has two years of eligibility left.

Boykin's name is all over the North Carolina State High School Association record book. She set a state record with 1,159 points in her senior season, breaking Terry Sanford and UConn star Shea Ralph's high mark of 1,135 from 1994-95, and Boykin tied the state record for quadruple-doubles with three. She scored more than 60 points twice to claim the two top-scoring games in state history, and three times in a row she scored more than 50.    

As a Duke freshman, Boykin started at guard in eight of the Devils' first 10 games before suffering a season-ending ACL tear. She received a medical hardship and then, as a redshirt freshman, reinjured her knee and wound up playing in only eight games.

Playing limited minutes in 17 games as a redshirt sophomore, Boykin averaged 7.1 points, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals while shooting 40.5% from 3-point range. Last season, she played in two of Duke's four games before the Devils' season ended.

At Charlotte (3-5), Boykin has started all eight games and is averaging 10.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 2.25 steals. 

Sports editor Monica Holland can be reached at mholland@fayobserver.com.