South Carolina women's basketball routs Presbyterian behind MiLaysia Fulwiley's career-high

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Freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley tied her career-high with 18 points to lead #1 South Carolina to a 99-29 win over Presbyterian.

Fulwiley got the second start of her career in place of Raven Johnson, and wasted no time making an impact. 

She made a casual-looking reverse layup in transition and then blocked a shot. Fulwiley grabbed the block and fired ahead to Bree Hall for a layup. She added back-to-back three-pointers to force a Presbyterian timeout and had eight of the first seventeen points for South Carolina.

“She looked comfortable, and that’s what you want,” Dawn Staley said. “The more experience she gets starting and any new, unfamiliar situation, is going to help her. She’s playing really at a high level on both sides of the basketball.”

Fulwiley added a buzzer-beater at the end of the first half and a couple of spectacular layups in the third quarter. She finished with 18 points on 8-16 shooting, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals despite not playing at all in the fourth quarter. Fulwiley also did not commit a single turnover.

It was a big 180 from her first career start when Fulwiley shot just 5-16 with a pair of turnovers against South Dakota State.

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“I felt way more comfortable this game, just knowing the little things to do,” Fulwiley said. “I felt a lot of pressure the first time, but this time it was just go out here and do what you do.

Fulwiley was one of seven Gamecock in double figures. Ashlyn Watkins and Chloe Kitts each had double-doubles with 10 points and 12 rebounds and 11 points and 10 rebounds, respectively.

Tessa Johnson added 13 points, Kamilla Cardosa and Sakima Walker each had 12, and Bree Hall had 10.

South Carolina was nearly perfect on offense in the first quarter. The Gamecocks scored 36 points, tied for the second-most in a quarter in program history, and shot 13-18 overall, 4-7 from three, and 5-6 from the line.

South Carolina cooled off, but then started to pick things up defensively. The Blue Hose scored 15 points in the first quarter, but just 14 the rest of the game. They hit six shots in the first quarter but went 4-45 the rest of the game. 

“Their defense in the second half was almost foaming at the mouth,” Presbyterian coach Alaura Sharp said.

Presbyterian finished the game shooting 15.6%. The Blue Hose shot 1-17 in the second quarter, 1-15 in the third quarter, and 2-13 in the fourth quarter. South Carolina also got 28 points off 23 Presbyterian turnovers.

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“(We’re) getting better,“ Staley said. “Individuals are getting better in their effort and collectively I feel like they are trusting each other a lot more.”

South Carolina tied the program record with 17 blocked shots. Cardoso blocked seven shots and Watkins set a career-high with six blocks. Watkins had the highlight with a block she swatted over the Presbyterian bench.

“She had me at first and then I was like, okay, let me just get that,” Watkins said.

South Carolina got the ball back with 12 seconds left, and the crowd urged the Gamecocks to try to score and cross the century mark. Staley told the players to dribble out the clock and then waved off the crowd’s cheers.

RELATED: South Carolina-Presbyterian box score

Notes:

The 70-point margin of victory is tied for the third-largest under Staley. … South Carolina’s players and coaches wore “Gamecock Jesus” warmup shirts. … Raven Johnson sat out the game for rest. Staley said Raven could have played but they opted not to push her. … South Carolina committed just eight turnovers, one over its season low. … Presbyterian hosted SC State Friday night and then played South Carolina Saturday. Sharp said it was an intentional decision to schedule the games back-to-back. “It’s important for us to experience a few back-to-back games because of the way our conference tournament sits. You play late and you’ve got to come back out.” … All ten available Gamecocks played and scored. … Former Gamecocks LeLe Grissett and Elysa Wesolek attended the game. Wesolek recently had her high school jersey retired. … South Carolina outrebounded Presbyterian 55-33 and had 21 assists on 38 baskets. … The Gamecocks finished the game shooting 52.1% and 10-22 from three. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a brown sweater over a “Gamecock Jesus” shirt. … Announced attendance was 15,176. … South Carolina’s next game is Tuesday at Bowling Green.

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