No. 1 South Carolina blows past Bowling Green State with coaching reunion as backdrop
Fred Chmiel coached Dawn Staley on the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting staff in 2005. He coached with her at Temple from 2006-08 and at South Carolina from 2015-23.
But Tuesday night saw them coach against each other as Chmiel’s Bowling Green State Falcons hosted Staley’s No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks.
USC prevailed, defeating Bowling Green 93-62 in front of a sold-out Falcons crowd.
The Gamecocks returned to their usual starting lineup of Kamilla Cardoso, Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and Raven Johnson after Johnson sat out of South Carolina’s previous game against Presbyterian to rest. Kitts led all scorers Tuesday with 21 points followed by Hall’s 18. Four Gamecocks ended the night with double-digit points: Kitts, Hall, Paopao (12) and Cardoso (11).
South Carolina (11-0) will now break for the holidays and play its final non-conference game of the season against East Carolina in Greenville, North Carolina at noon Dec. 30.
Reunited and it feels so good
Chmiel served as an assistant on Staley’s USC staff for eight years and won two national championships with the Gamecocks. Both head coaches embraced before tipoff Tuesday night, reporting to opposite ends of the sideline afterward.
This year’s South Carolina squad is different from the ones Chmiel fondly remembers working with. He described it this way: “Now (Staley’s) got these younger players. They play a little bit faster. They shoot more perimeter shots. They’re not as not as paint-dominant, but they’re more balanced.
The Gamecocks started Tuesday’s game shooting incredibly well. They made 10 shots in a row, not missing until well inside four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Guards Hall and Paopao led South Carolina’s 3-point production with four makes each from beyond the arc.
Bree Hall’s happy homecoming
Hall put on a show in her home state of Ohio.
She matched her career-high of four made 3-pointers (previously done on Jan. 28 at Alabama) in the first half against BGSU. Those buckets and a layup brought her point total to 14 points in 17 minutes of play.
Staley praised Hall’s play this season before the team left Monday afternoon for Bowling Green. In South Carolina’s five games leading up to Tuesday night’s contest, Hall shot 54.5% from the field, including 55% from 3.
“Real proud of her and her effort,” Staley said. “And I’m glad her people will get a chance to not have to take such a long trip to come here to see her. We’re bringing her back home, so to speak.”
Hall ended the game with 18 points (77.8% from the field, including 66.7% from 3) — which tied her career high set at Alabama in January — plus two rebounds, two assists and one steal.
“She got into a rhythm early,” South Carolina assistant coach Winston Gandy said in a 107.5 FM radio interview after the game. “I thought her teammates did a good job of finding her and then keeping her in rhythm. The ball wasn’t touching much but the net.”
Chloe Kitts’ career performance
Kitts showed off her midrange game against BGSU on Tuesday en route to a career-high 21 points on a team-best 83.3% clip.
In the first quarter, she spun to her right around a Falcon defender and drew a foul as she shot the layup for a quick three-point play. Later on she had a smooth one-legged Dirk Nowitzki-esque fade-away bucket.
Kitts surpassed her previous personal record for points scored in a game (14 set at Duke earlier this season) in the third quarter. She also ended up with six rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block.
Next four South Carolina women’s basketball games
- Dec. 30: at East Carolina, Noon (ESPN2)
- Jan. 4: at Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 7: vs. Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (ESPN)
- Jan. 11: at Missouri, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
This story was originally published December 19, 2023 at 8:53 PM.
