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South Carolina women's basketball: The 3-2-1 - Clutch players, game balls, and a favorite play

On3 imageby:Chris Wellbaum•about 9 hours•

ChrisWellbaum

Chloe Kitts (Photo by Katie Dugan)
Chloe Kitts (Photo by Katie Dugan)

This past weekend, South Carolina women’s basketball started the second half of the SEC season. Here are the clutch players, burning questions, and my favorite play from the weekend.

Three Clutch Players
Joyce Edwards
Vs Auburn: 28 minutes, 18 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals

Once again, Edwards was South Carolina’s best player, and she even led the Gamecocks in minutes played. Her speed in the open court was a huge factor, and she scored four layups in transition. 

Chloe Kitts
Vs Auburn: 26 minutes, 13 points, nine rebounds, 2 assists

Kitts led South Carolina in rebounding again and made a three for the second game in a row. Auburn seemed willing to leave Kitts open for jump shots, and after some – ahem – forceful encouragement (Kitts estimated Dawn Staley told her nine times to shoot the ball), she was able to make the Tigers pay.

MiLaysia Fulwiley
Vs Auburn: 22 minutes, 17 points, 4 assists, 3 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks

Fulwiley bounced back from a couple of poor games with a really nice effort. She didn’t throw up a bunch of ill-advised shots and did a good job on both ends of the court playing within the team concept. It’s hard for Fulwiley to be quietly productive, but she was on Sunday.

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Two Burning Questions
1. Can South Carolina continue to mitigate its weakness on the boards?
I chose the word “mitigate” for a reason. South Carolina isn’t going to suddenly become a great rebounding team in February. It’s the one area the Gamecocks haven’t figured out a way to replace Ashlyn Watkins’ production.

But South Carolina has found other ways to make sure the weak rebounding doesn’t hurt. Against Auburn, they did it by forcing 23 turnovers. In previous games, they did it by holding opponents to 30% shooting. 

Clearly, South Carolina can still win without dominating the glass, it’s just an unusual position for the Gamecocks 

2. Will Tessa Johnson get more aggressive?
Johnson only had four points against Auburn and has only hit double figures in one of the last six games. The bigger concern is that she only took two shots on Sunday. There were times – especially when South Carolina had some stagnant offensive possessions – when it seemed like Johnson was just out there to pass the ball around.

Johnson doesn’t need to shoot 10 times every game, but she is too good to only take two shots. If you’re an opposing coach, you are probably relieved when she doesn’t shoot more.

One Favorite Play
The photo at the top was pretty awesome. Kitts did her best impression of the A’ja Wilson statue (except right-handed) on the day Wilson’s jersey was retired. I couldn’t find a video of the shot, though, so we’ll go with another play.

There’s still so much to like with this play. The steal, the big running the floor, and the unselfish passes. Edwards is usually on the receiving end of these plays, but this time she was the passer. Very pretty.

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