MiLaysia Fulwiley showcases full range of skills in SEC Tournament quarterfinal win

MiLaysia Fulwiley had just finished a coast-to-coast play – grabbing a defensive rebound, running the length of the court, and scoring an acrobatic layup – to put South Carolina up by six points with 16 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Now, it was time to play defense.

Fulwiley retreated to the Gamecocks’ defensive half, waiting for an opportunity to pounce. Once Leilani Kapinus retreated to the midcourt logo, Fulwiley found it. She lunged for the ball, plucked it from Kapinus off the dribble and raced to the other end of the court.

The game clock, now down to three seconds, continued to tick down. There wasn’t enough time for her to run to the basket and score with one of her signature close-range finishes. Instead, she stopped just in front of the three-point line and hoisted a shot towards the hoop. Swish. The crowd at Bon Secours Wellness Arena exploded into a loud cheer, and Fulwiley pointed her right arm to the sky and pulled her left arm back, as if she were shooting an arrow with a bow.

“I saw how she was dribbling casually, so I was like, ‘I might as well just try to take it. There’s only two seconds left.’ When I took it, I was like, ‘Well, I have to shoot it,” Fulwiley said. “I felt very comfortable shooting it… I kind of knew it was going in when I took it.”

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These are the kinds of plays most players don’t even think of making. But for Fulwiley – whose unique blend of speed, strength and agility make her the subject of viral highlight reels – they are routine.

Fulwiley demonstrated all those skills in the Gamecocks’ 84-63 SEC Tournament quarterfinal victory over Vanderbilt Friday afternoon.

“MiLaysia is a talent, generational talent. When I say that she can do things on the basketball court that I haven’t seen a female do, that’s one. She consistently does it,” Dawn Staley said. “When she has got it going on, she pumps tempo. Her speed to me is her superpower. No one on the court can keep in front of her when she’s got it going on.”

Fulwiley’s strong individual plays did not stop with her first-quarter steal-and-score.

South Carolina’s lead had grown to 42-19 with just under three minutes left in the second quarter. When Chloe Kitts snatched a loose ball in the backcourt, Fulwiley grabbed it and dribbled the length of the court. Once she approached the basket, she lifted the ball over the outstretched hand of Iyana Moore, drove to her left and user her right arm to tap it off the glass and through the net.

She also played the role of a provider late in the fourth quarter by passing the ball behind her back to Sania Feagin, who finished the play with a wide-open bucket.

Fulwiley said the trust she has in her teammates helps her feel better about making flashy plays during games.

“They give me the confidence to want to make that pass in the game, knowing that they’re going to finish and actually catch it,” Fulwiley said. “My confidence stays high every day. I’m a conceited person, so I feel like my teammates just make it easier for me to want to do those things.”

Fulwiley contributed to more than just the Gamecocks’ highlight reel by the time the final buzzer sounded. She finished the contest second on the team in points (15) on 6-12 shooting and third in rebounds (six). On the defensive side of the basketball, she generated four steals that directly led to five South Carolina points.

Te-Hina Paopao said that, regardless of whether Fulwiley is making plays on offense or defense, the Gamecocks are a better team when her confidence is high.

“When she’s playing fun, playing free, she’s a different type of player,” Paopao said. “She came up big today.”

Another one of Fulwiley’s teammates, Maryam Dauda, sees her try to make mouth-dropping moves each day in practice. Whenever Fulwiley is charging at full speed towards the basket, there is little any defender in the sport can do, Dauda said.

“You can’t stop her. You just have to let Lay be Lay and try to stop her,” Dauda said. “But she’s unstoppable.”

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