South Carolina women's basketball: The Gamecocks rode an elite defense to a title in 2022, can they do it again?
South Carolina won the SEC Tournament with three outstanding defensive performances. With attention now on the NCAA Tournament, how does South Carolina’s defense stack up against the 2022 national championship team?
For those needing a quick refresher, the 2021-22 Gamecocks were occasionally offensively challenged (see the SEC title game loss to Kentucky, or the first and second round games against Miami and North Carolina), but they more than made up for it with one of the most smothering defenses women’s basketball has seen.
That team was anchored by Aliyah Boston, who may have been the best pick-and-roll defender ever, and Kamilla Cardoso, the 6-7 shot-blocker. Destanni Henderson was disruptive at the point, and Brea Beal was the defensive specialist who guarded – and shut down – the other team’s best scorer.
That season, South Carolina also had depth with freshmen Bree Hall and Saniya Rivers, who could give opponents different looks, and veterans LeLe Grissett and Victaria Saxton.
In the 2022 NCAA Tournament, South Carolina allowed just 45.5 points on .348 shooting.
The Gamecocks began their run by holding Howard to a tournament-record 21 points in the first round. They also held Miami to just 33 points in the second round (the eight-lowest score ever) and capped it off by holding UConn to 49 points, the sixth-fewest by a team in the championship game
It’s going to be difficult to match that level of defensive domination. Tennessee Tech could pretty much end any chance by scoring 40 points on Friday.
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But it’s the 2025 Gamecocks, not the 2022 Gamecocks, who set an SEC Tournament record for the fewest points allowed in an SEC tournament championship game. And this year’s squad is the one that set records by holding Iowa State to 36 points and then held five straight ranked opponents 30 points below their scoring average.
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Here’s how the numbers break down for the two teams:
Two things immediately jump out. The first is how much better offensively the 2025 Gamecocks are. They put up enough points to have a margin for error defensively, and yet still shut opponents down. In 2022, South Carolina was elite defensively almost by necessity.
The second thing is how they defend. In 2022, South Carolina’s goal on defense was to keep everything in front, switch every screen, funnel the ball into the paint where Boston and Cardoso would prevent a good shot.
This season there is more ball pressure, more denial, and they want to keep the ball on the perimeter so they can jump passes and overplay to create turnovers. South Carolina has long-armed players like Raven Johnson, Chloe Kitts, Bree Hall, and Tessa Johnson, plus the ultra-quick MiLaysia Fulwiley. Together they can close any gaps in a hurry.
Either way, the result is stifling for opponents. And hopefully it will produce the same outcome for the Gamecocks.
