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South Carolina women's basketball: Top Ten plays of the Season

On3 imageby:Chris Wellbaum•04/21/25•

ChrisWellbaum

South Carolina Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins (2) dunks the ball against TCU Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince (13) during the first half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images
South Carolina Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins (2) dunks the ball against TCU Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince (13) during the first half at Dickies Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images

The 2024-25 season ended in disappointment for South Carolina. But along the way, there was a long list of incredible plays and moments. I’ve narrowed it down to the ten best plays. 

1. Ashlyn Watkins throws down
Do you have to ask? The best part of Ashlyn Watkins’ dunk was how it was clear as soon as she got the steal – no, it was clear as soon as she got blocked on the other end = that she was lining up the dunk. It didn’t matter that 6-7 Sedona Prince, the nation’s leader in block shots, was chasing her down. It wasn’t a soft dunk either. It was a throwdown.

“We always kid her that she doesn’t have her legs anymore. She can’t dunk anymore,” Staley said after the game. “She actually was in shootaround today, dunking and missing. Then she makes a play like that, and I knew she cleared her runway. She got to the left side of the floor, and I knew she was going to attempt it.”

2. Chloe Kitts’ triple-double
This wasn’t one play, but when you get the first points-rebounds-assists triple-double against an SEC opponent in program history, you make the list.

3. Feagin’s sneer
Sania Feagin’s evolution into a fierce defender was complete. She swatted the ball so hard that Justice Carlton fell down twice, and then added a little sneer at the end. Round 1 of this four-round series went to the Gamecocks.

4. Feagin and Fulwiley shut down Texas in the SEC Tournament
Just before the start of this video, Feagin played outstanding defense to force a miss by Kyla Oldacre. Then MiLaysia Fulwiley got the miss and did Fulwiley things. It was game over after this play.

5. Chloe’s clutch buckets
I didn’t realize until I started making this list how many clutch buckets Kitts scored this season. It began in the season opener in Las Vegas when she sank a pair of free throws in the waning seconds against Michigan. Then she scored seven straight and nine of 10 to put away Duke in December. There was the triple-double to put away a pesky Ole Miss team. She came up big in the fourth quarter against Vanderbilt and Texas in the SEC tournament. And against Maryland, and the free throws against Duke in the Elite Eight… You could make a top ten list of just Clutch Chloe moments.

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6. Fulwiley’s block to Joyce’s layup
This might have been South Carolina’s best game of the season, a 40-point blowout of no. 13 Oklahoma. This play was South Carolina at its best: stifling defense, speed, athleticism, talent. The block, the staredown, Joyce Edwards throwing her hand up like a wide receiver, and Tessa Johnson hitting her in stride for the layup.

7. Raven’s LSU double play
The sequence starts with Sania Feagin running the break and setting up point guard Raven Johnson for an alley-oop, and in a flash ends with a steal and layup by Johnson. As tight as the game was, that made the difference.

8. Fulwiley to Paopao for the lead
Fulwiley’s turnaround jumper against Maryland got most of the attention, but this play was prettier. Get the stop and push the ball. It looked like Fulwiley had gotten too far into the paint but she found Te-Hina Paopao for the go-ahead layup.

9. Fulwiley goes coast-to-coast on Texas A&M
This has everything: a no-look layup, a behind-the-back dribble, and an and-one. But the most impressive part is probably that Fulwiley started out on the opposite baseline, behind every other player, and beat them all to the other end.

10. Tessa’s three at Clemson
This was so long ago that it is easy to forget. South Carolina had slogged through the first half, apparently looking ahead to the next game at UCLA. Looking to get the last shot before halftime, Dawn Staley called a timeout to set up a play. Clemson changed its defense and blew up the play. South Carolina didn’t panic, and the result was Tessa Johnson knocking down the Gamecocks’ first three of the game as the buzzer sounded. The basket was the spark the Gamecocks needed, and they cruised in the second half.

That’s my top ten. What plays have I missed?

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