South Carolina women's basketball: Defense, defense, and more defense
From the first half to the second half on Friday, South Carolina’s shooting percentage jumped from 31.6% to 48.1%. What did the Gamecocks do to turn their offense around against Maryland?
“It was really defense,” Joyce Edwards said. “We had a defensive mindset and that causes us to be able to push in transition.”
We should have known. With South Carolina, it always starts with defense.
When the Gamecocks lost to UCLA, they got back on track with stifling defense, holding Iowa State to 36 points. When they faced a five-game gauntlet against some of the best offenses in the country, they held them all at least 20 points below their average.
After losses to Texas and UConn threatened to derail the season, South Carolina stormed through the SEC tournament with tenacious defense. The run was capped off by holding Texas to the lowest score ever in an SEC tournament final and frustrating player of the year Madison Booker into a dismal performance.
That’s what happened against Maryland. The offense couldn’t get going, so South Carolina leaned on its defense.
South Carolina outrebounded Maryland, the tenth-best rebounding team in the country, by 13. The defense also held Maryland 13 points below its season scoring average and only allowed 39.1% shooting.
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“I don’t think it was my typical Seat Belt Gang defense, but it was okay,” Bree Hall said.
I respectfully disagree. Hall and Tessa Johnson held Shyanne Sellers, Maryland’s best player, largely in check. She had 10 points, seven rebounds, and five assists, but shot just 3-11 shooting and had five turnovers.
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One of the biggest plays of the game was a block by Raven Johnson. With four minutes left, she came from behind to block a layup by Kaylene Smikle. South Carolina got the rebound, and then Johnson hit Chloe Kitts for a go-ahead layup. The sequence seemed to permanently swing momentum.
“I give her an 8.5 to 9,” Sania Feagin said. “She shouldn’t have let that girl go by her. That’s why it’s an 8.5. But I’d give it a 9 because it’s hard to block a shot from behind.”
“Well, first off, that wasn’t my man, so I was helping,” Johnson said. “I give myself a 10 because I was actually helping a teammate.”
South Carolina faces Duke in the Elite Eight, another great defensive team, and whichever defense controls the other probably wins the game.
