South Carolina women's basketball: How point guard has been a team effort
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All season it has seemed like South Carolina’s biggest question mark was at point guard. From the early season when Kierra Fletcher and Raven Johnson were trying to get up to speed, to the SEC Tournament when Fletcher went down with an ankle injury, everyone wants to know about the point guards.
The other common factor throughout the season, regardless of circumstances, is that the entire team has been invested in whoever the point guard is.
Early in the season, South Carolina employed a point guard-by-committe approach. Fletcher and Johnson were on minutes restrictions limiting them to about 15 minutes each game. On top of that, they were still learning their role with the Gamecocks.
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That meant Laeticia Amihere and Zia Cooke saw significant time at point guard, and the approach worked. Dawn Staley could lean on whichever player created mismatches in that particular game.
That approach changed by the time conference play rolled around. Fletcher and Johnson had each solidified their grasp of the playbook, the minutes restrictions were gone, and the pair would combine to play all 40 minutes. One thing didn’t change – it was still point guard-by-committee. Only now, the committee is a support group.
One game, Johnson might play 36 minutes, like she did at UConn. Four days later she only played eight minutes and Fletcher played most of the game. It didn’t matter who wa son the court, everyone else offered support.
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When Fletcher went down against Ole Miss, Johnson had to jump into action. On her first possession, she was called for a double-dribble. As Johnson headed to the bench for a timeout, Aliyah Boston grabbed her.
“She was like, it’s okay Raven, you’re getting your feet wet,” Johnson said. “Aliyah’s a great person to talk to.”
Fletcher tried to return to the game, but only played a couple of minutes before being sidelined for good. She helped rally the team around Johnson.
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“Ke, she’s a great leader, a great teammate,” Johnson said. “And then Aliyah, Zia, everybody was talking about, you got this. “
The same thing happened the following day, before the tournament championship. Fletcher tried to play but was unable. About an hour before the game, when the arena was still empty, the Gamecocks huddled near midcourt. They broke the huddle and Fletcher pulled Johnson aside and hugged her.
“Ke said, ‘It’s just another game. Trust your instincts. Do what you do,’” Johnson said. “She kept talking to me the whole game.”
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Fletcher is healthy again and will be back in the starting lineup against Norfolk State. That is fine with Johnson.
“It doesn’t matter to me. Coach knows what she does and when I get in I’m going to produce,” she said. “We feed off each other.”
That gives Staley confidence that what was once a question mark is now just another asset.
“I just think we have two point guards that really are locked in to each other and wanting each other to do extremely well,” Staley said. “They’re very different in how they see the game, but they’re joined together in making sure that they are running our team and managing and doing their part so we continue to win.”
