The No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks are calling in roster reinforcements, announcing Monday that French forward Alicia Tournebize will join the NCAA basketball team after the holidays.
"Alicia has an incredible skill set and basketball IQ," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said in a news release. "She has great touch around the rim, can shoot it out to the 3-point line and is a shot blocker."
While they've only dropped one game so far this season, the Gamecocks' roster has been running thin due to injuries — including losing star forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending ACL injury in October.
With the continued absence of forward Ashlyn Watkins, who is out this season as she continues to rehab a January ACL tear, South Carolina has suffered additional temporary roster losses this month as injuries forced forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer into concussion protocol.
Though Okot, who is currently averaging a double-double, returned to play last Thursday, Makeer remains out, as the Gamecocks and their traditionally deep bench continue a 2025/26 campaign that's seen just three games played with a healthy 10-player roster.
The midseason signing of Tournebize will add both depth and height to bolster South Carolina, as the 6-foot-7 freshman rivals Chicago Sky forward Kamilla Cardoso as one of Staley's tallest-ever players.
The 18-year-old daughter of French basketball Hall of Famer Isabelle Fijalkowski — one of the inaugural WNBA players for the Cleveland Rockers — is already making a name for herself in Europe, leading the France's youth squad in both scoring and rebounding as they claimed bronze at last summer's 2025 FIBA U18 EuroBasket.
Tournebize also packs professional experience, coming to Columbia from French club Tango Bourges Basket.
The young star will likely make her NCAA debut as South Carolina kicks off SEC conference play in early 2026.
Sidelined Phoenix Mercury star Satou Sabally is still down for the count, with the 27-year-old set to miss the 2026 season tip-off of Unrivaled 3×3 Basketball as she continues to recover from lingering concussion symptoms.
Sabally suffered the head injury in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the 2025 WNBA Finals on October 8th, requiring assistance in exiting the matchup after visibly swaying upon standing.
The concussion forced Sabally to sit out the remainder of the postseason series against the eventual 2025 WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces.
Both Sabally and Unrivaled planned her return to Phantom BC for the league's second season, with the German national impressing in the offseason venture's debut run by averaging 15.3 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.9 assists per game.
Sabally is under a multi-year contract with the upstart, with Unrivaled promising that while the forward will be out "indefinitely," medical personnel will reevaluate her fitness "at a later date" as both parties hope to see her on the 3×3 court this season.
In her stead, Golden State Valkyries guard Tiffany Hayes — who suited up for Unrivaled's Laces BC last season — will join Phantom BC as Sabally's replacement.
The second season of Unrivaled 3x3 Basketball will tip off in Miami on January 5th, 2026.