South Carolina women's basketball: Motivated by tragedy, Laeticia Amihere finds success

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For most of her first three seasons at South Carolina, Laeticia Amihere was defined by potential and what she wasn’t.

She was the first Canadian girl to dunk in a game, a post player who could handle the ball like a guard, unlike any other player the Gamecocks had ever had. The potential was enormous.

But it was often overshadowed by what she was not. Multiple knee injuries in high school slowed Amihere’s development. One of the Gamecocks’ strongest players, she tended to get outmuscled in the paint. One of their fastest players, she struggled to stay in front of players on defense. She seemed like a player without a position. 

The good – a school-record nine blocked shots in the Elite Eight, 18 points against Oregon, and seven assists as an emergency point guard – always outweighed the bad, but Amihere was prone to being a nonfactor for stretches that could span multiple games.

Now in her senior season, that is no longer the case. Amihere has become South Carolina’s most reliable player off the bench. Instead of being a player without a position, she is a positionless player – a trick of semantics to say Amihere is a mismatch for opponents.

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For the second year in a row, Amihere spent the summer with the Canadian senior national team. Last year she competed in the Tokyo Olympics, and this year in the World Cup. She also formed a nonprofit organization that hosted basketball camps in Canada and Africa.

But there was also tragedy. Amihere’s brother died unexpectedly before the World Cup, and her grandmother died days before the season started. 

Amihere wasn’t expected to be with the Gamecocks for the season opener. She rushed back and played, despite jet lag and a lack of practice. She was channeling everything into basketball.

“It’s my senior year so I’m definitely trying to go out with a bang,” Amihere said recently. “I’ve had some very tragic things happen to my family and I feel like that has motivated me a lot to work hard and be better. That has been my mindset every game, just to do it for them.”

Dawn Staley has probably been Amihere’s biggest supporter. She has continuously voiced her confidence in Amihere, even through struggles. Staley sees Amihere’s dedication this year and said the biggest difference is how Amihere is focused on what she does well.

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“She’s focused. She wants it. She’s playing for a lot of people that she’s lost,” Staley said. “She’s filling the void the right way, meaning she’s extra focused on basketball and bringing energy and being the versatile player that we all know she’s capable of being. It’s leaner. She’s making layups, she’s making plays, she’s utilizing her court vision, she’s defending. She’s valuable to us. I’ve known her value, this is going on her fourth year. It seems to come together. She’s doing a lot more and she’s efficient with it.”

Amihere is averaging career-highs in points (7.4), field goal percentage (54.1%), free throw percentage (66.7%), and assists (1.8), while also averaging 3.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. They aren’t huge numbers but they are consistent, efficient, and for the first time in her career Amihere has more assists than turnovers.

The statistics don’t tell the story, though. As the Gamecocks’ sixth woman, Amihere has played every position this season, and in that way she is positionless. Whether she is nominally the point guard or power forward, Amihere has figured out how to play to her strengths. 

Against Stanford, with Aliyah Boston in foul trouble, Amihere had to rebound and guard the post. Then against UCLA, she stepped in at point guard to help South Carolina play over the top of the Bruins.

“We get different sides of everybody each game,” Amihere said last week. “Sometimes somebody might need scoring, somebody might need to be good on defense. We’re definitely seeing the all-around game evolving.”

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Amihere has been a rock for a unit that is still figuring things out. South Carolina’s bench has been extremely productive this season, but Staley has been unhappy with the consistency. 

When Staley sat Amihere against Charleston Southern, it became even clearer how valuable Amihere is. Against one of the worst teams in the country, South Carolina had just 16 assists and shot under 45% from the floor.

Staley has tried different rotations and different substitution patterns to try to figure out how to get the most production. She even held Kamilla Cardoso and Sania Feagin out against Cal Poly to send a message about their approach. Freshmen Ashlyn Watkins and Talaysia Cooper are still learning how to play and Raven Johnson is coming off an ACL injury. Bree Hall needs to be more consistent.

That leaves Amihere.

“We know what we’re going to get from LA,” Staley said after the Memphis game. “I’m pretty happy with her being a big bang off the bench. Where we insert her is different places. I think she was the fourth player coming off the bench. She’s not worried about any of that. She’s very secure in her contributions to our team.”

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