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

South Carolina begins its quest for a third straight SEC tournament championship on Friday. Find out how to watch and what to watch for.

1. Get some rest
If all goes according to plan, South Carolina will play three games in three days this weekend. Rest and recovery are important. That begins with Friday’s quarterfinal game. 

South Carolina has a chance to get a big lead and let the bench bring it home in the fourth quarter. South Carolina beat Vanderbilt by 28 points in their first meeting and was able to empty the bench in the fourth quarter. That’s exactly what Dawn Staley would like to see happen in Greenville on Friday.

I’m convinced that South Carolina lost the 2022 tournament final on Friday and Saturday. On both days, South Carolina had big second-half leads (on Arkansas and Ole Miss), but the Gamecocks became preoccupied with Aliyah Boston’s double-double streak and failed to put their opponent away.

The key players ended up having to play the fourth quarter to secure the victory instead of resting, and South Carolina ran out of gas on Sunday against Kentucky.

Winning, and winning comfortably, means South Carolina needs to get back to playing its best basketball. Staley said on Wednesday that she thinks they are on the right trajectory.

“I think we’re moving towards that,” she said. “I think certain players are certainly playing a lot better, a lot more focused, a lot more just impactful, both sides of the basketball, and it’s a lot of them. So I think we’re just, throughout the season, we have a player here play well, a player there but I think there are a lot of players playing well, which makes us feel good about going into postseason play.”

2. Fulwiley’s stage
MiLaysia Fulwiley won SEC Tournament MVP last season, proving she is more than just flashy plays. She followed it with an outstanding NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina spent much of this season getting Fulwiley back to that level, and she is playing her best basketball heading into the tournament weekend.

“She’s a Taurus, so she’s a little stubborn, she’s a lot competitive,” Staley said. “Don’t tell her no, cause she’s gonna prove you wrong. You have to approach her in a way of opening her mind up. Stubborn – I got this, I can do this, I can do anything, and all of this is very true, but there are times in which you need to place some things, right? And we’ve placed some things in her life, in her game that, now it’s being utilized to a point where it’s lean. You know, her layups, her defense. like it all has improved over the last few months, not even year, like the last few months. So I’m pretty happy about it.”

It might help that South Carolina plays Vanderbilt in the quarterfinals. Fulwiley scored 24 points against Vanderbilt earlier this season, tying the career-high she set against LSU in the title game last season.

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3. Tournament Tessa Time
It was in the quarterfinals last season that Tessa Johnson had her breakout game and the legend of “Tournament Tessa” was born. 

In that game, sluggish South Carolina was struggling with a Texas A&M team it should have been able to easily take care of. Johnson turned things around when she entered the game. She had a big three-point play on the way to 13 points and blocked the first shot of her career to end an Aggie run.

Johnson added eight points a day later against Tennessee and held Rickea Jackson in check in the first half. 

That set up a huge NCAA Tournament. Johnson had 11 points against North Carolina and sparked the decisive first-half run. She slammed the door on Oregon State with 15 points and then scored a then-career-high 19 in the national championship game against Iowa.

That level of play carried over to the early part of the season, despite being slowed by an ankle injury. But over the last half of the SEC season, there have only been glimpses of “Tournament Tessa.”

Hopefully, that has changed. Johnson had 16 points and four rebounds against Kentucky, and that might be the springboard she needs.

“We need Tournament Tessa,” Staley said on the SEC Network at halftime of the Tennessee-Vanderbilt game. “Tessa Johnson really hasn’t had the type of year that she probably wanted to have after coming off a great freshman year. Slowly, now is the time when she looks and feels and sounds like herself. She’s playing with a certain level of focus that I like. She’s looking to score. She’s defending, she’s a disciplined defender. Now is the time that she needs to reappear on people’s scouting reports.”

Johnson was one of the players ejected for leaving the bench against LSU, and she didn’t get to cut down the net after the game, something that she brought up a few times later on. She’d love to get to do it this season.

4. Availability report
Ashlyn Watkins is out for South Carolina. Sakima Walker missed the season finale against Kentucky and had a boot on her foot. She was not at practice on Wednesday but was not wearing the boot in pictures posted on social media later Wednesday. Or Thursday morning.

Sacha Washington has been out all season for Vanderbilt. Khamil Pierre fell on her tailbone late against Tennessee and was slow to get up. She stayed in the game, but it’s worth monitoring on Friday.

5. Scouting the Commodores
On Thursday, Vanderbilt built (sorry) a 21-point fourth-quarter lead on Tennessee but had to hold on for dear life after the Lady Vols pulled as close as seven in the final minute. 

Mikayla Blakes, the SEC Freshman of the Year, had 19 of her 24 points in the second half against Tennessee. She drew a remarkable 12 fouls. Khamil Pierre added 16 points and 15 rebounds.

Blakes played 49 minutes, Moore played 35, and Jordyn Oliver played all 40 minutes on Thursday. The game ended after 1:00 pm, giving them less than 23 hours to recover before facing South Carolina.

South Carolina routed Vanderbilt 82-54 less than two weeks ago in Nashville. South Carolina dominated the paint (plus-32), the glass (plus-12), turnovers (plus-20 points)- “Everything,” according to  Blakes. 

“Literally from top to bottom,” said Iyana Moore, who scored 23 points on Thursday. “Taking care of the ball. Being very crisp in what we do. Being really attentive to all the details. Not taking a play off. It’s a quick turnaround, so just getting our bodies right, minds right, spirits right. We have to go in there and handle what we have to do tomorrow.”

Fulwiley had 24 points on 10-15 shooting in that game, and Joyce Edwards had a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, outplaying Blakes.

Blakes managed 19 points, but South Carolina kept her from taking over. Pierre got her double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds, but like Blakes, South Carolina limited her impact. Nobody else hit double figures in points.

South Carolina attended the Vanderbilt-Tennessee game Thursday morning to get in some scouting, although Sakima Walker used the time to work on a friendship bracelet.

“It’s another business trip,” Staley said. “I don’t want to put any more pressure on them than what it is. And it’s a gauntlet. We’ve been through a gauntlet. So we just happen to, some of the hardest stretches of our season will apply this weekend.”

The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (27-3, 15-1) vs #8 Vanderbilt (22-9, 8-8)
When: Noon, Friday, March 7 (Arena doors open at 11:00 am, Team sendoff at Grand Bohemian Hotel at 9:50 am)
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, SC
Watch: ESPN

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