COLUMBIA — South Carolina women's basketball Alicia Tournebize made her debut on Jan. 15 against Texas .
Coach Dawn Staley had the 6-foot-7 forward from France as the first sub off the bench, checking into the game with a warm welcome from the crowd in Colonial Life Arena with 5:55 left in the first quarter.
Tournebize announced she was joining the No. 2 Gamecocks (18-1, 5-0 SEC) right before Christmas and arrived on Jan. 1, beginning practices the week of Jan. 6. She sat on the bench for three games before playing.
South Carolina takes on Coppin State next on Jan. 18 (noon ET, ESPN+.)
Tournebize played five minutes total, scoring zero points with no shots and no rebounds.
She played for about two minutes in the first quarter, then checked in with 2:52 left in the first half and finished the quarter.
It was expected that her impact would be low considering the high-stakes game and high level of play Texas presents. Tournebize will likely increase her minutes as she has more practice time with the Gamecocks.
South Carolina played starting forward Joyce Edwards 38 minutes and starting center Madina Okot played 25, with reserve Adhel Tac joining Tournebize to help the two starters off the bench.
She finished with a plus-three in her five minutes of action, picking up two fouls and logging zero turnovers.
Before joining the Gamecocks, Tournebize played for the professional club Tango Bourges Basket. She also played for France in the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament, where she made the All-Star 5 team.
Staley noted Jan. 2 that her lack of minutes for Tango Bourges Basket was due to her age, as she was on the younger end of the roster. She did score 12 points in 12 minutes in her first game for the club this season.
For the FIBA U18 EuroBasket team, she averaged a team-high 12 points and 8.9 rebounds.
Tournebize has dunked at least twice in a game. She did not dunk vs Texas and did not take any shots.
She did dunk during warmups.
Her name is pronounced al-EE-see-uh TOR-nah-beez.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com . Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: How did Alicia Tournebize play for Dawn Staley in South Carolina debut?
