Kamilla Cardoso sparks South Carolina's 77-61 win over Duke

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Kamilla Cardoso scored seven consecutive points during a decisive 10-0 fourth-quarter run and #1 South Carolina beat Duke 77-61.

South Carolina struggled to get the ball to Cardoso against North Carolina, where she scored a season-low six points. For three quarters, it was much of the same against Duke. It changed in the fourth quarter. 

Cardoso drew a foul and sank a free throw to break a 55-55 tie. Minutes later, South Carolina led 60-57 when Raven Johnson hit a three and blew a kiss to the crowd to spark the decisive run. 

Cardoso drew a foul and sank both free throws, then put back her own miss for a three-point play. She added another layup to give South Carolina a 70-57 lead with 3:11 left and force a Duke timeout.

“We had to somehow stop that momentum and we chose to go in to Kamilla,” Dawn Staley said. “And Kamilla delivered for us time and time again.” 

Cardoso finished with 15 points, 14 rebounds, and two steals. 

“When you have a 6-7 post like Kamilla taking over it’s amazing to have,” said Te-hina Paopao.

South Carolina led by as much as 15 in the third quarter, and was up 13 midway through the frame. But the Gamecocks started taking quick shots, seemingly looking for a knockout blow. Instead of the big blow, they opened things up for Duke.

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The Blue Devils got two three-pointers from Reigan Richardson and finished the quarter on an 11-1 run to cut the deficit to 55-52 entering the fourth quarter. After the teams exchanged several misses, Richardson hit a step-back three to tie the game at 55 with seven minutes to play. She finished with 17 points on 5-9 shooting from three.

Something about the Triangle seems to inspire scuffles involving South Carolina. Thursday night against North Carolina, a shoving match involving multiple players led to double technicals for Ashlyn Watkins and Deja Kelly.

Sunday, Taina Mair shoved Chloe Kitts in the back after a dead ball. The officials decided not to call anything, and then when Jadyn Donovan blocked Kitts on the other end she stood over Kitts and taunted her, again as the official watched with no response, and all hell broke loose. 

Players had to be separated and Staley ran all the way to the opposite free throw line to protest the non-call. She had to be restrained by the other coaches and cooler heads prevailed. After reviewing the incident, the officials gave out a double technical on Donovan and Raven Johnson (for yelling at the Duke bench).

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The saltiness continued after halftime. On South Carolina’s first offensive possession, Kitts hit a jumper over Donovan and then blew her a kiss as they ran back (“I probably shouldn’t have done that,” Kitts admitted after the game). Kitts had a second straight strong game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and three assists.

“I feel like it makes me more confident,” Kitts said. “Coach was like, if you need to score, score.”

All five Gamecock starters finished with double figures. Bree Hall had 13 on 3-4 shooting from three, Te-hina Paopao had 12 points, and Raven Johnson had 11 points, four rebounds, and four assists.

MiLaysia Fulwiley was benched early after some poor shots, but responded with strong play in the fourth quarter and finished with nine points in 17 minutes. Kitts said that Fulwiley grew up a lot this weekend.

“She’s not used to this yet,” Kitts said. “UNC game she didn’t get that much minutes, but she came in here towards the end of the game, had some great passes, had some great takes, she looked confident out here. She was in because her defense has been getting better day-by-day.”

RELATED: South Carolina-Duke box score

Notes:

South Carolina had 14 first-half turnovers, one below its season-high. The Gamecocks settled down and had just six in the second half. … Duke committed 16 turnovers. … After being outrebounded by the Tar Heels, the Gamecocks outrebounded the Blue Devils 45-24. … South Carolina shot 16-23 from the foul line. Duke shot 2-2. … South Carolina was 9-15 from three, and Duke was 11-23. … Dawn Staley outfit: Staley wore the same black “Love” hoodie she wore when South Carolina played at Duke in 2021. … Announced attendance was 5,607. … South Carolina’s next game is Wednesday against Morgan State.

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