Tennessee women's basketball guard Diamond DeShields reads a letter she wrote to her high school self, urging herself to realize that she does not know it all. (1:34)

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- It's another Big Monday at Colonial Life Arena this week as South Carolina takes on Tennessee (ESPN2, 6 p.m. ET). The Gamecocks won a showdown with Mississippi State last Monday, a game in which junior guard Allisha Gray came alive in the second half.

She scored 16 of her 17 points in the last two quarters. She also made a key defensive play, chasing down Bulldogs star Victoria Vivians on a breakaway to the basket with just under a minute left and South Carolina up by one point. Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said that play "hit my core, because that relentlessness epitomizes what we need our team to be."

"I thought, 'Maybe I can catch her; maybe I can't.' But I wanted to try to make her change her shot," Gray said. "But I definitely didn't want to foul, because she's a great free throw shooter."

Vivians missed, and South Carolina held on for the 64-61 victory. Thursday, the Gamecocks remained unbeaten in SEC play with a 62-44 win at Georgia; Gray had 18 points on 7-of-11 shooting.

Monday, the Gamecocks meet a Tennessee team that's in the middle of the SEC pack at 4-3 and is 13-7 overall. But the Lady Vols have a win over a top-10 team, defeating then-No. 6 Notre Dame 71-69 two weeks ago.

Gray will be facing former teammate Diamond DeShields. Both were part of North Carolina's stellar "freshman four" of 2013-14. They helped lead the Tar Heels to the NCAA Elite Eight, but that's far in the review mirror now.

DeShields left for Tennessee after that season, while Gray stayed one more year along with Stephanie Mavunga (who's now at Ohio State) and Jessica Washington (now at Kansas).

DeShields helped the Lady Vols make it to the Elite Eight last year, and she's averaging 17.5 points per game this season. Gray sat out as a transfer last season and now averages 13.6 PPG for the Gamecocks.

"It's two different styles of play; here's it's more post-focused, so I had to learn to find them more," Gray said of her Carolina experiences, North and South. "We have two of the best in the country [A'ja Wilson and Alaina Coates], and they need the ball. At North Carolina, I was more freewheeling, took multiple shots. Here, my assists went up, and I believe that's the most improved part of my game."

Staley has been pleased with Gray's consistency, but said the Mississippi State game brought out something else.

"She's been really steady, and she competes every possession," Staley said. "But what she added was some emotion. I've never seen her as demonstrative as she was. She displayed the will to win. That was beautiful."