South Carolina women's basketball: As injuries derail other teams' seasons, the Gamecocks keep winning

On Tuesday, Texas A&M announced that leading scorer Aicha Coulibaly will miss the rest of the season with knee injury. It was the latest example of an unfortunate announcement that has happened all too often over the past month.

South Carolina experienced it in early January when Ashlyn Watkins was lost for the season with a torn ACL. It hasn’t let up since then. 

Kansas State lost post Ayoka Lee indefinitely to a foot fracture. “It’s not good,” coach Jeff Mittie said, although it is “probable” that Lee can return for the postseason. Lee, who holds the NCAA single-game scoring record of 61, is averaging 16.0 points and 6.3 rebounds this season

Maryland’s Bri McDaniel suffered a torn ACL in her right knee. Her injury occurred similarly to Watkins’ – her knee buckled as she went up for a layup. McDaniel was Maryland’s third-leading scorer and sparkplug off the bench, averaging 10.6 points, 2.4 assists, and 2.1 rebounds. Maryland also lost its best player, Shyanne Sellers, indefinitely due to a knee injury.

UConn has had its usual litany of bumps and bruises, with Paige Bueckers, Azzi Fudd, and Aubrey Griffin missing time while Ayanna Patterson is out for the season.

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In the SEC alone, Alabama lost Sarah Ashlee Barker (leg) for nearly a month. Auburn’s Taliah Scott has missed all but three games with a wrist injury, and the Tigers have had a different starting lineup in every game this season due to nagging injuries.

There are countless others of varying degrees across the country, plus assorted illnesses that have cost players a game or two. How teams have handled these losses also spans the spectrum. 

UConn has continued to win. Alabama dropped a few games while Barker was out, but was able to stay in the top 25 until she came back.

On the other side, Auburn already had modest expectations but has been in a free fall. Kansas State lost its first game without Lee. Maryland has lost three straight beginning with the game where Sellers was hurt (albeit all against top-ten opponents).

And then there is South Carolina. The Gamecocks somehow seemed to get better after losing Watkins.

“I’m very confident with the entire roster,” Dawn Staley said. “They have a way of playing well together. They prep. They prep extremely well. They are finding their footing. They want each other to play well.” 

That has meant other players stepping up. Chloe Kitts has to be a consistent rebounder. Joyce Edwards has had to grow up in a hurry. And Sania Feagin has had to become a defensive stalwart.

“Like Coach says, next man up,” Feagin said. “We have each others’ backs, no matter what. We have her back. You just go out there and play the game that she knows we know how to play and we know we know how to play. Just play the game that we know.”

It helps that, as Kim Mulkey bemoaned, Watkins is only one of South Carolina’s ten McDonald’s All-Americans. South Carolina still has plenty of talent, even if there is nobody quite like Watkins. 

With that in mind, the coaching staff has stressed to the players that the goals haven’t changed. The process may be different, but the result shouldn’t be.

“It isn’t anything besides comfort,” Staley said. “I feel like we didn’t present like we don’t have enough to continue to compete at a really high level. As a coaching staff, we never harp on it. Yes, we feel sorry for Ash and her not being with us. Do we have the utmost confidence in the people that are left? Absolutely.”

In the wake of Watkins’ injury, Staley said that she thought the Gamecocks were playing with more freedom. There was, she thought, less pressure to be perfect and it led to better play.

A couple of weeks later, Raven Johnson offered a more succinct reason why the Gamecocks have been playing so well.

“We’re doing this for Ash.”

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