South Carolina women's basketball: Birmingham Regional 2 notebook
South Carolina edged Maryland and Duke to win the Birmingham Regional 2 and advance to its fifth straight Final Four. Let’s wrap up the weekend with a notebook.
Like Butter
MiLaysia Fulwiley broke in her butter-themed player edition shoes with a pretty good game. She had 23 points and five rebounds in the win over Maryland.
Fulwiley usually gives away her shoes after games. Someone in the stands will ask for them, and she signs each one and gives it away. She once told me Under Armour sends her more shoes than she knows what to do with, so it’s a win-win all around.
Nobody asked Fulwiley for her shoes Friday, and that’s a good thing. She hopes to wear that pair for the whole tournament.
Sickos
The Gamecocks have been dealing with minor illnesses throughout the tournament.
Fulwiley had a bit of a cold when they played Indiana, and Maddy McDaniel was so horse she could barely speak when they first arrived in Birmingham. Chloe Kitts and Adhel Tac both told me Saturday morning that they felt drained.
Even several media members (including me) were dealing with nagging ailments all weekend.
Everyone repeatedly insisted they were fine and that it did not affect their play, but it was noticeable. (Exept me. I complained the whole time.)
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Sleepy
The two-regional schedule has drawn a fair amount of criticism this year. Geno Auriemma complained about the amount of travel (two cross-country trips if UConn makes the Final Four), there were major hotel issues in Spokane (and minor issues in Birmingham), and trying to cram eight teams into one arena made for limited and awkward practice times.
None of this is new – it’s been this way for three years, but it felt worse this year. TCU had a 7:30 a.m. practice. There were 8 a.m. press conferences.
When I talked to Chloe Kitts on Saturday morning, in between yawns, she said, “Didn’t you guys just ask us questions?” It had been about 15 hours, but point taken. I asked Adhel Tac about their practice schedule, and she said she was so tired that she didn’t even know the schedule. She just got on the bus when they told her to.
We have one more year of midsize cities hosting the regionals (Fort Worth and Sacramento), and then it moves to bigger cities (Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, and Portland). We’ll see if things change.
Free Throws
If you combine the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games, South Carolina made nine of 10 free throws in the final minute and 15-20 in the fourth quarter.
Chloe Kitts went 10-14 for the weekend.
