South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - Arkansas

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1. Back on track
After three substandard games where the Gamecocks looked tired, sluggish, and occasionally disinterested, South Carolina bounced back with a 103-55 shellacking at Kentucky.

South Carolina scored an SEC-high in points, assisted on 30 of 38 made baskets, shot 64.4% from the floor, hit 19-21 free throws, and only turned the ball over 15 times. Kentucky only shot 33.8%, committed 19 turnovers, and was just 4-14 from three and 7-18 from the line, although I’m not sure the Gamecocks can take credit for the last one.

South Carolina did the things it had done all season prior to the past couple of weeks: shot well, shared the ball, and pushed the tempo. They even got back to their Fighting Gamecock ways by getting into a shouting match with former Gamecock Eniya Russell late in the game which led Bree Hall to drill a completely unnecessary three to make a point.

The Gamecocks followed their normal schedule and had Monday off. They returned to practice focused and re-energized.

“Really good two days of practice. We seem to be well-rested. There’s a lot of energy back. We’re playing better on both sides of the basketball,” Dawn Staley said. “It was good for us to impose our will on both sides of the basketball and play well from start to finish.”

That’s not encouraging news for opponents hoping South Carolina had already peaked.

2. Feagin’s emergence
Kamilla Cardoso practiced the last two days and Staley indicated she will play against Arkansas. In her absence, Sania Feagin made sure the Gamecocks didn’t miss a beat. She had career-highs with 16 points and five blocks against Kentucky, tied her career-high with four assists, and added six rebounds.

That came after she had 10 points and tied her career-high with seven rebounds against Alabama. When Cardoso missed two games earlier in February, Feagin chipped in 11 points and five rebounds against Missouri, going 5-6 from the line. She also had four points and three rebounds against UConn. 

For the season, Feagin averages 6.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, and 1.0 assists, all career bests. She’s averaging 7.7 points in SEC play and is a versatile scorer who presents a different sort of matchup problem than Cardoso, Ashlyn Watkins, and Chloe Kitts.

3. Breezy’s back
Ahead of the Georgia game, I wrote that South Carolina needed to get Bree Hall going. She had a four-game stretch where she didn’t hit a three, going 0-8, and was 1-3 in the previous game against Tennessee. Hall was averaging 6.2 points over that span and shooting just 26.2%.

I noted that it was about this time last season that Hall began to come into her own. She didn’t have a great game against Georgia, but it was a marked improvement as she went 3-8 from three.

But after the last two games we can safely say Breezy’s back. She had 13 points on 6-9 shooting against Alabama and then 18 points on 8-10 shooting against Kentucky. 

4. Free Throw Fulwiley
MiLaysia Fulwiley continues to show growth in her game beyond the highlight plays. Against Kentucky, Fulwiley was a mere 2-4 shooting, but she got to the line six times and was a perfect 12-12.

Fulwiley is tied for the second-most free throws without a miss in program history (A’ja Wilson leads the way with a perfect 14-14). Fulwiley is now 57-71 on the season (80.3%), with nearly a quarter of her makes coming this weekend. 

With her quickness and handle, Fulwiley should probably be getting to the line more often. Free throws aren’t exciting, but given her shooting clip, Fulwiley can produce a lot of points by drawing fouls, not to mention getting opponents in foul trouble. 

Was this weekend a fluke against a bad defensive team, or can Fulwiley continue to add to her game?

5. Scouting the Razorbacks
Since losing to Arkansas in the 2019 SEC tournament, the Gamecocks have dominated the Razorbacks. It’s a contrast of styles that the Gamecocks have figured out how to exploit. 

Defensively they stay glued to the Razorbacks’ shooters and funnel any drives to their shot-blockers. Offensively, the Gamecocks get the ball inside to take advantage of their size advantage.

I think the way that we’ve played them over the past couple of years has been great,” Staley said. “We don’t really control the three-point attempts, we control what looks they get and what looks they get at the rim.”

Arkansas has evolved this season and has more size and rebounding than in years past (Saylor Poffenbarger is one of the best offensive rebounders in the nation). The Hogs don’t fire off threes at quite the rate they used to, but Mike Neighbors said they still need to hit 13-15 threes to win the game. It’s a tough task against the Gamecocks.

“There’s just no weakness. On our scouting reports, we literally have nothing written down. There’s not one thing,” Neighbors said. “Something uncharacteristic is going to have to happen for them.”

The tall task is even taller because Arkansas will be without stud freshman Taliah Scott. Scott averages 22.1 points this season, which would lead the SEC if she had played enough games to be eligible. 

Scott’s absence puts the offensive burden on Samara Spencer (14.2 points) and Makayla Daniels (12.0 points). 

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (27-0, 14-0) at Arkansas (18-11 (6-8)
When: 9:00 ET, Thursday, February 29
Where: Bud Walton Arena, Fayetteville, AR
Watch: SEC Network

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