South Carolina women's basketball: Chloe Kitts is finding herself at the right time
Somehow, South Carolina led just 68-63 at the media timeout in the fourth quarter. Mikayla Blakes had just banked in a three, and the Commodores had all the momentum. South Carolina desperately needed a basket, but Vanderbilt had the Gamecocks out of sorts.
It was Chloe Kitts time.
South Carolina inbounded the ball and got it to Kitts, who drove and pulled up for the basket. According to the official stats, the play took five seconds. It felt even faster.
Kitts initially suggested it was a play called “14,” before Dawn Staley jokingly admonished her for giving away the play call. Later, Kitts insisted that she couldn’t remember the play.
“I do not remember that play,” she said. “I’m sorry, I really don’t.”
Tessa Johnson was more forthcoming. She said while Kitts wasn’t the only option, they knew the ball was going to end up with her.
“There were reads off of it, but she ended up making it work,” Johnson said.
Whatever the specifics were, it worked. And then Kitts grabbed a rebound. Then scored again. And then there was another rebound, this time with a foul and free throw.
“The thing about USC basketball is everybody can go off at any time, and today was her day,” Joyce Edwards said. “We kept feeding her, as we should.”
Kitts had scored seven straight points, and South Carolina was on the way to the semifinals. She scored 11 of her career-high 25 points in the fourth quarter and nine during the game-ending 16-0 run.
“My teammates just found me, and they kept telling me to go,” Kitts said. “I just wanted to win so bad. I was just being aggressive.”
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Kitts added 10 rebounds for a double-double. Since the UConn loss, Kitts is averaging 13.4 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 3.4 assists, while shooting 61.4%. She has four double-doubles in the five games, including a triple-double.
“Oh my goodness, she’s been having a year,” Johnson said. “Before the game, I told her keep playing how you’ve been playing. She did that and she needs to continue to do that.”
It’s not hard to see that she is playing the best basketball of her career.
“I would imagine that this is kind of how she envisioned her entire season going, but it didn’t go that way,” Dawn Staley said. “It was a little bit up and down, inconsistent. But Chloe is strong enough mentally, physically to be able to handle the rigors of this league. No one is just going to kill it every single night.”
It’s a good time for Kitts to find that confidence. This is her third postseason, and she has learned from the disappointment of the 2023 Final Four and her personal rollercoaster in the 2024 Final Four.
“It’s just self-confidence in knowing who I am and being comfortable with who I am,” Kitts said.
In the postgame locker room, the players were still buzzing about Kitts’ performance. At least most of them were. Kitts seemed to be the least excited
“I couldn’t have done it without my teammates,” Kitts shrugged, “but now we’re moving on to the next one.”
