Dawn Staley says Alicia Tournebize will make South Carolina women’s basketball debut vs Texas
(This story has been updated to add the latest information)
COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball’s newest addition, 6-foot-7 forward Alicia Tournebize, will make her debut on Jan. 15.
The freshman out of Vichy, France, warmed up on Jan. 11 before the No. 2 Gamecocks (17-1, 4-0 SEC) beat Georgia, but did not play. South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after the game Tournebize needed more practice time, explaining how practice conflicted with new student orientation events.
But after a few more days practicing with her new team, Tournebize has acclimated enough to see the court when the Gamecocks face No. 4 Texas (18-1, 3-1) at Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 15 (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).
“She looked good,” Staley said Jan. 14 of Tournebize in practice. “She’ll play, she’ll definitely play.”
Tournebize, 18, announced she would join the team on Dec. 22, and arrived in Columbia on Jan. 1. Since then, she completed the necessary paperwork to start practice and did the week of Jan. 6.
She sat on the bench the past three games, including on Jan. 11 after warming up, changing into sweatpants for the game. Georgia was likely South Carolina’s last unranked home game until February, but in between No. 4 Texas and No. 12 Oklahoma on Jan. 22, it has a rare nonconference road game at Coppin State on Jan. 18 (noon ET, ESPN+).
While Texas will be the first top-5 game for South Carolina since Nov. 27, Staley teased on Jan. 12 that Tournebize could make her debut then.
“Hopefully with these next couple of prep days we might be able to see her on Thursday,” Staley said on a radio show when asked for an update.
It will be her first college game, but she comes with professional experience with Tango Bourges Basket in France. She also played for France in the 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket tournament, where she made the All-Star 5 team.
Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards leads the team with 20.7 points per game and has been averaging 30 minutes. With Tournebize playing, that number could decrease closer to 28 minutes per game, which Staley said would be ideal.
“She’s smart, like she catches on things fast,” Edwards said of Tournebize. “Her defense is great. Offensively she can shoot, she can space the floor out. I feel like nobody has played her so it’s going to be hard to scout against her and I’m just excited to see her out there playing.”
Will Alicia Tournebize dunk for South Carolina?
Three years after Ashlyn Watkins recorded the first dunk in South Carolina women’s basketball history, Staley has another player who can dunk.
According to South Carolina, Tournebize became the first recorded French woman to dunk in a game in September 2024. Then she dunked with two hands in 2025.
What was particularly impressive about her two-handed dunk was how it happened. With a player of her height, it’s not uncommon to sink back closer to the basket. But Tournebize went over the screen near the top of the key to pick off the short pass and steal the ball, which allowed the clear runway to dunk.
Staley’s forwards/centers are active defenders and switch screens often, which places them on sometimes quicker, shorter guards.
Alicia Tournebize comes from a basketball family
Tournebize won’t be the first in her family to play in the United States. Her mother, Isabelle Fijalkowski, played for Colorado before she was taken by the Cleveland Rockers in the 1997 WNBA Draft. She played her final WNBA game in 1998, then went back to France, where she played until 2002.
Alicia Tournebize stats
Staley noted Jan. 2 that Tournebize’s 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.
How to pronounce Alicia Tournebize
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 [email protected]. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
Cora Hall is the University of Tennessee women’s athletics reporter for Knox News. Email: [email protected]; X: @corahalll; Bluesky: @corahall.bsky.social. Support strong local journalism and unlock premium perks:knoxnews.com/subscribe
