South Carolina’s Paris Season Opener: Alicia Tournebize Returns Home as Dawn Staley Takes on Maryland

South Carolina women’s basketball will begin its 2026–27 campaign with a special international matchup against Maryland in Paris, France. For sophomore center Alicia Tournebize, the November 2 contest will be more than a season opener. It will be an opportunity to represent the Gamecocks in her home country while reuniting with family and friends.

The 6-foot-7 Tournebize hails from Vichy, France, located nearly 200 miles south of Paris. Before joining Dawn Staley’s program in December, she competed for Tango Bourges Basket, a French professional club that participates in the EuroLeague.

Now preparing for her first full season with the No. 1-ranked Gamecocks, Tournebize will face No. 17 Maryland at Adidas Arena. The noon ET matchup, which will air on ESPN, is part of the Oui-Play women’s college basketball event. Oklahoma and North Carolina will meet in the second game of the four-team showcase.

“I’m gonna try to treat it like other games, but the context is much different,” Tournebize said in an interview with the Greenville News. “It’s gonna be weird because it’s two different parts (of my life), playing in South Carolina and then playing back in France.”

Staley previously brought South Carolina to Paris in 2023 for the inaugural Oui Play event, which marked the first NCAA regular-season basketball game played in France. This year’s edition continues the effort to expand the international visibility of women’s college basketball.

Tournebize expects approximately 40 friends and family members to attend the game and support her.

“I’m so so so excited,” Tournebize said. “Playing in Paris, it’s gonna be so much fun … I’m just really excited to go back, see my family too, and just have my people be able to actually see me in person because it’s been a while.”

She also believes the event can inspire young French players by giving them an opportunity to experience American college basketball firsthand.

“I think it can it can be good for younger girls,” Tournebize said of the event. “With social media, we can see games but it’s a good opportunity to see in real time and real life. Just see how fast the game is, and two good NCAA team competing.”

A Basketball Legacy That Began With Her Mother

Tournebize’s connection to American basketball runs through her mother, Isabelle Fijalkowski, a former 6-foot-5 center who helped establish France’s presence in the sport internationally.

Fijalkowski played one season at Colorado in 1994–95, helping the Buffaloes achieve an undefeated conference record, win the Big Eight Tournament and reach the Elite Eight. In 1997, she became the first Frenchwoman selected in the WNBA Draft.

After two WNBA seasons, she returned to France, where she won two EuroLeague championships and five French League titles. In June, her accomplishments earned her induction into the 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.

“It’s an opportunity for people in France to know more about women’s sports and college basketball,” Fijalkowski said of the Paris game. “NCAA basketball is so enjoyable to watch I’m sure Parisians will love it.”

Fijalkowski Praises Dawn Staley’s Leadership

Fijalkowski has followed Staley’s career for decades. The two competed against each other at the 1994 Goodwill Games in St. Petersburg, Russia, long before Staley became one of college basketball’s most successful coaches.

“I follow Dawn back in France, and she’s so inspiring, for coaches even, like me,” Fijalkowski said. “You feel the leadership. When she was on the court, also really inspiring, a leader … this type of behavior we don’t see enough in France.”

Staley’s playing career included professional basketball in France, three Olympic gold medals as a player and another gold medal as the United States women’s national team coach in 2020.

“She has an attitude from the woman’s point of view that is very inspiring,” Fijalkowski said. “That you don’t have to coach as a man to be successful. You can still be competitive, have high dreams and she represents that because she’s not doing things for herself, she’s doing for women’s basketball … She has an impact that I really respect, and I wish back in France someday we have this kind of leadership, and by having that, I think more women will coach.”

A Global Stage for Women’s Basketball

France’s growing influence in the sport is evident, with 14 French players appearing on WNBA rosters during the season, including three who competed in the WNBA Finals.

“We have good representation of France on a lot of WNBA teams, even college basketball, so that’s great,” Tournebize said. “It’s very helpful and good for when they get back to French team that they experience the actual high level American basketball … When the French players that played EuroLeague instead get to the W, they do well. So that means European basketball is also elite and very tough.”

For Tournebize, the Paris opener brings together her past and present. For South Carolina, it offers an early test against a ranked opponent and a chance to introduce its championship ambitions to an international audience. The matchup promises to be both a competitive basketball event and a celebration of the growing global reach of the women’s game.

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