South Carolina women's basketball: Rumors of the Gamecocks' demise have been greatly exaggerated
South Carolina is down. The LA programs have taken over college basketball, and the Texas Longhorns are the new queens of the SEC. Meanwhile, South Carolina struggles to beat even mediocre teams, and the Gamecocks are no longer part of the elite class.
Or not.
Somehow and for whatever reason, that became the narrative over the past few weeks. When the second top 16 reveal had the Gamecocks as a two seed, it was all the proof anyone needed that the Gamecock dynasty was over.
Dismiss the Gamecocks at your own peril.
That narrative never held water. The selection committee had to ignore its own criteria to make South Carolina a two seed. South Carolina had actually dominated Texas in their first game and barely lost the second. As other teams limped to the regular season finish line, South Carolina surged.
South Carolina got blown out at home by UConn. That can’t be erased. But one game, especially one so out of character for both teams, does not speak for the entire season. It certainly seemed like Gamecock fatigue was the driving force.
“If beating us gives the people who beat us so much credit,” Dawn Staley said, “You get so much credit for beating us, yet when we’ve had some of the toughest stretches in the country, and we came out of it unscathed, you can’t discount that. You can’t discredit that.”
Texas entered the rubber match against South Carolina as the no. 1 team in the polls, the presumed top overall seed in the NCAA tournament, with the SEC Coach of the Year Vic Schaefer and SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.
The Gamecocks had the Longhorns right where they wanted them.
By the end of the 64-45 dismantling, Staley had outcoached Schaefer again, South Carolina made Booker vanish, and the Gamecocks had their first win over a no. 1 ranked team in program history.
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The game was over early. One sequence in the second quarter was damning.
The Longhorns’ Kyla Oldacre, a 6-6 behemoth who dominated the Gamecocks earlier in the season, got the ball in the post against Sania Feagin. Oldacre lowered her shoulder and slammed into Feagin. Despite giving up four inches and many more pounds, Feagin held her ground and forced a missed shot.
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MiLaysia Fulwiley grabbed the rebound on the baseline and then raced through the entire Texas defense to get to the other rim. She drew the foul, and Staley pumped her fists. As the layup dropped through the net, Staley turned and, with a steely gaze, strode back to the bench. The look on her face said it all: ballgame.
“People had a lot of things to say after we lost to Texas the last time,” Bree Hall said. “It was big motivation for us.”
Staley moved to 7-0 against Schaefer in the postseason. She is 5-0 against him in SEC tournament finals, plus an Elite Eight win, and the 2017 national championship game. There have been some embarrassing episodes, including the scoreless fourth quarter in the Elite Eight and tying the record for fewest points in an SEC championship game.
Heading into the NCAA tournament, South Carolina’s down year looks a lot like the last three. South Carolina didn’t reclaim the top spot in the AP poll, only rising to no. 2, but the Gamecocks are the best team in the SEC, a number one seed, and the betting favorites to win it all.
