South Carolina, LSU set for key SEC showdown Thursday

No. 1 South Carolina will face its toughest conference test of the season when it travels to face ninth-ranked LSU on Thursday night.

The Gamecocks have been running through the SEC so far, winning their five games by an average of nearly 35 points. They are the only undefeated team left in college basketball and have been dominant.

Not bad for a team that lost all five starters from last season's squad that made it to the Final Four. Coach Dawn Staley has done a masterful job of getting the Gamecocks to play extremely well so far as they've beaten four ranked opponents already.

While the Gamecocks have been playing extremely well, the Tigers have been trying to mesh their new pieces with returning stars Angel Reese and Flau'jae Johnson. LSU lost at Auburn on Jan. 14 and sits a half-game behind the Gamecocks in the standings.

"As I told the team, 'Our goals have not been destroyed just because you lost to Auburn,'" LSU coach Kim Mulkey said. "This is just a little obstacle in the road. And it's one, as I said after the South Carolina game last year, 'You either learn from this or you don't.' And I tend to think we learned last year, and we'll learn this year."

The defending champions lost their season opener to Colorado before rebounding to win 16 straight - albeit not against the strongest competition.

This will be the only regular season meeting between the two teams.

RENEWING OLD ACQUAINTANCES

There was a time when UConn and Notre Dame played it was must-see TV. The two women's basketball powers had a series of intense rivalry games when they were both in the Big East Conference as well as classic Final Four matchups. They'll tip-off on Saturday in Connecticut with the two schools splitting the past six meetings.

The Huskies will honor the 2003, 2004, 2013 and 2014 national championship teams. The 2013 and '14 teams will officially be inducted into the Huskies of Honor at halftime, joining the 1995, 2000, 2002, 2003 and 2004 championship teams.

1,203 AND COUNTING

Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer became the all-time winningest coach in major college basketball, moving past former Duke men's coach Mike Krzyzewski on Sunday when the Cardinal beat Oregon State. Next up for the Cardinal is a trip to Arizona to face the Wildcats and Arizona State.