The No. 9 UK women’s basketball team begins a series of four of its next five games at home Thursday hosting No. 2 South Carolina at Memorial Coliseum.

The battle between UK and USC will be televised nationally on SEC Network with a tip off time of 7 p.m.

UK (13-1) began conference play with a tough five-point loss to Auburn, but came back with an explosive 25-point win over Alabama and a solid win against Georgia. South Carolina will look to keep its record of 15-0 unblemished against the Cats.

The Gamecocks are one of three teams in the nation with a perfect record so far this season.

South Carolina is led in scoring by All-American, 6-foot-5 sophomore A’ja Wilson with 15.6 points per game. In a close second for scoring is the two-time reigning SEC Player of the Year and 2015 Naismith Trophy Finalist, 5-foot-9 senior Tiffany Mitchell with 14.9 points per game. She also has 37 assists and 25 steals so far this season.

“We have a lot of respect for them and how talented and hard they play,” head coach Matthew Mitchell said. “We’ll have to execute well and we’ll just have to give a great, great effort.”

Junior guard Makayla Epps leads the scoring for UK, averaging 16.1 points per game with 5.2 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Senior Janee Thompson comes in at second, averaging 12.8 points per game and 5.5 assists per game.

The game will carry some extra meaning for the senior guard as it was in UK’s matchup with South Carolina that Thompson suffered the leg injury that ended her season early.

“These things just take a while to fully recover from,” Mitchell said. “I think I will be more concerned of dealing with her emotions going back into that building (when they play USC later this season). That was a tough day.”

Sophomore Alexis Jennings has put up three straight double-doubles for UK in league action this season, averaging 11.3 points and 11.0 rebounds per game.

She is the first player in the Mitchell era to do so starting out conference play.

“I think she’s definitely trying really hard,” Mitchell said. “She just has to make certain that practice is valued and that her attitude stays positive as much as possible. She’s trying to grow in that area.”

Mitchell put great emphasis on how he has to mentally prepare a young team to play against a team of veterans.

Last year, UK and USC split the wins, both upsetting each other on their home court. UK gave USC its first and only conference loss of the season on Senior Day, 67-56.

Thursday’s meeting will be the 56th meeting between the two teams. UK, with a 33-22 overall record against South Carolina, has won 10 of the last 12 meetings at home between the two teams. Coach Mitchell is 10-7 all-time against South Carolina.

“They are our rival that we get twice each and every year,” Mitchell said. “It’s a great test for our team always.”