South Carolina women's basketball Rapid Reaction: Arkansas
South Carolina bounced back from the embarrassing loss to UConn with a 95-55 rout of Arkansas. Here’s what stood out to me from the game.
– I have a story running on Friday about South Carolina’s leadership. Consider this a preview.
MiLaysia Fulwiley is a quiet player and not somebody who is going to be a vocal leader, but when she plays with the kind of energy and discipline she played with on Thursday, she forces her teammates to play with energy and discipline as well.
I’m a broken record about Fulwiley’s defense. I have written several times that it’s what makes her truly elite. On Thursday she was matched up with Izzy Higginbottom, who leads the SEC and is fifth in the nation in scoring at 24.1 points per game.
Higginbottom had just 10 points on 3-17 shooting. She only shot four free throws, half her average.
“It must be nice to bring her off the bench,” Mike Neighbors said. “You’re a little gassed and she comes in and takes it to another level. Her offense gets the flash, but it’s what she does defensively. She just disrupts. It’s hard for Izzy to get around her.”
– It took a half, but Tessa Johnson broke out of her recent slump. You knew it was going to happen after she went back to her usual hairstyle. Johnson had 10 points and a career-high six assists. She shot 4-5 and 2-3 from three.
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Johnson was passive in the first half and was scoreless on one shot attempt. When she entered the game in the third quarter, Johnson aggressively drove for a layup, and suddenly she was back.
Johnson had 12 points against Georgia, but that was her only double-figure scoring game in the past seven games. She’s too good not to be more assertive (witness the assists), and South Carolina needs her to play like that to reach its goals.
– Bree Hall had a season-high 14 points and took a season-high 13 shots. Like Tessa Johnson, it was good to see her play aggressively. Hall had three three-pointers in the first half while her teammates were still sleepwalking through things. She had multiple dribble drives, something she doesn’t do a lot of. In the third quarter, she had a fast break layup. She used to be good for a couple of those a game but hasn’t done it as much this season.
We call her Big Shot Breezy for a reason, and she’s another one they need good production from in the postseason.
