South Carolina women's basketball: From a doctorate to a day care, the Gamecocks are undefeated again
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On Sunday, South Carolina completed its second consecutive undefeated regular season. It’s a remarkable accomplishment that has never been done by an SEC team before and has only been done a handful of times overall. It’s made even more impressive by the fact that the Gamecocks replaced their entire starting lineup and two-thirds of their scoring and minutes played.
And yet, South Carolina’s record has barely caused a blip nationally. Even within the program, it’s almost an afterthought.
“It hasn’t sunk in quite yet,” said Te-Hina Paopao, who joined the team in the offseason. “Our goal was to win (games) this season. No matter what it took from our team we were going to win the close games and all those games. It wasn’t really a goal, it was just we’ve got to win the next game and the game after that.”
Last season South Carolina was the defending champion who returned four starters including consensus Player of the Year Aliyah Boston. Going undefeated was almost expected as South Carolina bulldozed through the season.
This season was quite the opposite. The Gamecocks weren’t even picked to win the SEC, and few pundits considered them a Final Four team, let alone the favorite. Dawn Staley was in that group. She joked that summer workouts were so bad that she wanted to retire, and nothing like the disciplined, focused practices of last season.
“I would probably equate it to a doctorate program, and they’re gonna get me for saying this, a daycare,” Staley said. “Our locker room is like daycare. It’s so much talking about nothing. In the beginning of the season, we would say be quiet. Now it’s just who they are. It’s their identity and we really don’t fight that battle. We just put our earplugs in and keep it moving.”
It was easy for Staley to embrace this team’s differences when they were winning. What seemed like immaturity at first, turned out to be a tight-knit team that enjoyed playing basketball together and bonded off the court.
“We just go out there we genuinely love playing with each other,” Paopao said. “It’s just no pressure. We go out there and play our game and knowing who we are we’re going to get the dub at the end of the day.”
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“No one has beat that team, and for a reason,” Tennessee’s Kellie Harper said. “They’re really good.”
That bond has helped create a deep, talented, and versatile team. Ten of the 11 players have started a game. Only one player, junior Bree Hall, started all 29 games. A different player may be the star on any given night, as Staley has adjusted playing time and lineups to take advantage of matchups or hot hands.
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“I feel like all of us just don’t want to lose,” said freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley, one of those players who has seen her minutes change from game to game. “We all go out there and do the little things, the things we need to do to win because we don’t want to lose. It helps us a lot knowing everyone on the team is on the same page – they don’t want to lose.”
It’s another difference from last season when South Carolina largely played one style and forced opponents to try to counter it. It was a strategy that worked for all but one game, but the versatility is nice, too.
“They’re a super competitive group. They don’t really like losing and they can play a lot of different styles of play, especially offensively. Defensively I think we do a pretty good job of holding serve and playing the way we need to play and being disciplined and staying connected,” Staley said. “I am super proud of them. If you compare the undefeated season from last year to this year, it’s so different yet we end up in the same place. It doesn’t make me any more or less proud.”
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As the wins piled up, opponents who hoped they were going to take advantage of a rebuilding year became resigned to losing for another year.
“Has anybody beat them?” Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin asked rhetorically after the Rebels lost to the Gamecocks. “We’re just a part of the community.”
One of the reasons this undefeated record has flown under the radar is because of how last season ended – without a championship. It made the regular season record feel hollow.
There is significant pressure on this team to avoid a similar fate, although Paopao and Fulwiley each downplayed it. The inexperienced team will be tested this weekend in the SEC tournament, a dry run of sorts for the NCAA Tournament.
“I don’t feel like we’re a lock to win every basketball game. Every game that we enter with this team, it’s the same question mark hanging over, who are they going to be? When you win 29 games you think those are the habits that you create, but they’re still a very young group,” Staley said. “Postseason is a lot different than the regular season. I’m anxious to see how they operate in the SEC Tournament space.”
