"Did you know it was going in?" - South Carolina women's basketball players relive Kamilla Cardoso's game-winning shot
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South Carolina beat Tennessee 74-73 on a banked-in three-pointer by Kamilla Cardoso as time expired. South Carolina had possession with 1.1 seconds left and no timeouts.
South Carolina had practiced for this scenario and knew what play to run. It was designed to go to Cardoso who would pass to Te-Hina Paopao for a shot. But there wasn’t enough time for the second pass, so Cardoso had to shoot.
She hesitated for a moment but got the shot off and it banked in. It was the first made three-pointer of Cardoso’s career, and her first attempt since her freshman season at Syracuse. It wasn’t a pretty shot, but it was a game-winner.
I asked the Gamecock players if they thought the ball was going in when Cardoso shot it.
Kamilla Cardoso: “No. I didn’t know it was good until I seen the ball dropping to the floor. You could see my face, I was like (shocked).
“It is the best and my favorite (moment).”
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Sania Feagin: “I knew it was going in. I had so much faith and confidence in Kamilla. We do it every day. Every day after shootaround we go to the three-point line and shoot threes with (Coach Lisa) Boyer. I had so much confidence in her. I ran on the court before the ball even went in the net.” (Feagin can be seen celebrating as soon as the shot left Cardoso’s hands.)
Bree Hall: (Hesitates. Feagin yells, “Tell the truth!”) “No. Well, I will say that I looked at her feet and saw that they were square to the basket. I’m like, oh yeah, that’s going in. But I still had some doubts, I’m not going to lie.”
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Te-Hina Paopao: “I was like, no way is this about to go in. And then we looked and it went in.”
Tessa Johnson: “I had a feeling. We were all praying on the bench. We trust in God. God is good. So yes, we had faith in Kamilla.”
“It was the slowest moment of my life.”
Raven Johnson: “Coach told her to shoot it, and I said if Coach is comfortable, I’m comfortable.”
Ashlyn Watkins: “No, I didn’t know. I saw that she stepped back, but I’m glad it went in. I was like, it’s 50-50. It could have went in or not went in. (laughs)”
MiLaysia Fulwiley: “Yes. I knew it was going in because she shoots those a lot in our practices. She shoots half-court shots, three-point shots. (Tamari) Key wasn’t really guarding her. She put her foot back together, follow through, I knew it was green.”
Adhel Tac: “No we didn’t. Everybody has a nagging feeling. We were all shocked. You could tell from our bodies before the shot went up.” Tac is still on crutches after knee surgery, which created a problem. “I’m hopping in full circles. I don’t know where to go. I’m on one leg trying to get on the court.”
Chloe Kitts: “No! I’m so happy it went in, but we were all like, did she just shoot it? But we’re so happy and so proud of her.”
