South Carolina women's basketball: MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson raised the bar for the Gamecocks

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This season of women’s basketball has been dubbed the “Year of the Freshman.” For South Carolina, the SEC Tournament was the “Weekend of the Freshman.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley has been grabbing headlines since her breathtaking debut in Paris and is usually included in discussions of this season’s elite freshmen, but in Greenville, she proved she is more than just viral moments.

Tessa Johnson isn’t a household name like Fulwiley and she is far less likely to go viral, but she proved last weekend that she can be the perfect glue player.

Together, the two freshmen were arguably the Gamecocks’ best players during the SEC Tournament.

Let’s rewind to late October.

Fulwiley was already making breathtaking plays and showing glimpses of Dawn Staley’s hype that she is a generational talent. But she was also wildly inconsistent and a disinterested defender.

Johnson was struggling with the adjustment to college. She could shoot, though, and that was enough to get her playing time, even if Staley said Johnson’s best defense was her offense (meaning she would have to outscore her opponent).

They went through growing pains. Johnson suffered a sprained ankle that set her back, and both had games in which they barely played. But they learned, and the most important lesson was about defense.

“If you would have saw (Fulwiley) two months ago, she really didn’t get back in transition. She really got lost in half-court defense. She didn’t put pressure on the ball,” Staley said. “She can be an elite defender. At times she’s an elite defender.”

Fulwiley got a crucial steal and layup against Tennessee, and then successfully harassed LSU’s Haily Van Lith in the championship game.

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“Tessa is a big guard. I would say she probably lacked confidence in defense before she got here, especially when we started practicing. The emphasis that we put on it, she lacked confidence in it,” Staley said. “The more and more she plays, the more and more she sees herself doing some great things out there on that side of the basketball, the more confidence she’s gaining and the more times she’s putting herself into position.” 

As a defender, Fulwiley is spectacularly quick and physical. Johnson relies on her size, wingspan, and footwork to be disruptive. But they both get steals – Fulwiley finished second on the team with 56 steals and Johnson was fifth with 21.

They also block shots. Fulwiley had 22, third on the team. Johnson got her first block against Tennessee. The block got lots of attention, but Staley wanted to talk about the rest of Johnson’s game.

“Not only get a block, but she gets deflections, she’s in great defensive position,” Staley said. “I’d rather take all the other stuff in and around the blocked shot because that’s going to be probably 95% of who she’ll be on the defensive side of the ball.”

“All the other stuff” included Johnson guarding Tennessee’s Rickea Jackson, a likely top-five pick in the WNBA Draft. Johnson didn’t just hold her own, she shut down Jackson in the first half. It was a huge confidence boost for Johnson.

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“It means everything because I like to be challenged and the fact that I have her trust behind me, that’s all I need,” Johnson said. “I need her trust.”

What Johnson and Fulwiley did on defense rounded out their performances. When South Carolina, including Fulwiley, had a poor first quarter against Texas A&M, Johnson steadied the ship. And when the Aggies made a third-quarter run, again it was Johnson who ended the threat.

Johnson scored 13 points against Texas A&M and averaged 8.3 points for the tournament. She showed she is more than a shooter, scoring on all three levels.

“I was just playing the game. My teammates did what they had to do,” Johnson said. “The ball

found me. I just shot it.”

After a shaky quarterfinal performance where Fulwiley admitted she was nervous, she adopted the same mindset. She went from six points on 1-6 shooting on Friday to 13 points on 5-11 shooting on Saturday.

“I feel like I was just giving what the defense gave me, staying poised throughout the whole game,” Fulwiley said. “I usually get speed up, so I just told myself that I was going to stay calm and stay poised today, and it worked out in my favor.”

With her confidence back, Fulwiley exploded on Sunday. She had a career-high 24 points on 8-12 shooting, two assists, and two steals. It was the entire package, and it won her Tournament MVP honors.

“I feel like basketball is a confidence, that’s the key to basketball,” Fulwiley said. “I feel like my confidence is out the roof when I step on the court. Nobody can guard me, check me. It’s really a mind thing. I just told myself that I have to lock in and play better.”

The continued improvement from Fulwiley and Johnson makes South Carolina even more dangerous going into the NCAA Tournament.

“Our youngsters are doing a really great job,” Staley said. “They give us a totally different look. They can attack the basket. They’re floor spacers. Not a whole lot of people are probably putting them on their scouting report, so it gives us an opportunity to utilize them in a way which frees them up to do some things.”

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