No. 1 Gamecocks reign as year wraps up, end non-conference slate with win over ECU
South Carolina’s game against East Carolina was scheduled out of necessity.
Playing on the road against a strong defensive opponent after a long holiday break is far from ideal. But the Gamecocks accepted the challenge, and though they weren’t perfect, they made the most of their non-conference finale.
No. 1 South Carolina defeated East Carolina 73-36 Saturday in Greenville. The Gamecocks have now started 12-0 for the third straight season.
USC coach Dawn Staley started her usual crew of Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Raven Johnson, Chloe Kitts and Kamilla Cardoso. Cardoso finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the year. The Gamecocks’ Ashlyn Watkins scored 11 and MiLaysia Fulwiley had 12.
South Carolina will play its first SEC game against Florida at 7 p.m. Thursday in Gainesville.
Overcoming ECU’s overwhelming defense
The Pirates’ defense played the Gamecocks extremely tough. ECU limited South Carolina to just 14 points in the first quarter on 26.7% shooting (including 33.3% from 3 and 30% on layups). It marked USC’s second-lowest scoring first quarter of the season, after 10 first-quarter points at No. 24 North Carolina.
South Carolina bounced back in the second quarter, scoring 22 and improving its field goal percentage to 40% (and 50% from 3). The Gamecocks still struggled against the Pirates’ defense in the post, making just three layups in six additional attempts.
USC scored the second-fewest points of the season against ECU (behind 65 points at UNC) and shot 41% from the field (including 38.5% from 3).
“[The Pirates] really get under your skin,” Staley said. “They really do a good job of being disciplined and calculating and making you play faster, making you think on your feet a little bit.”
Bang bang, Paopao! Plus free-throw woes
Paopao entered Saturday’s game as one of the best 3-point shooters in college basketball and kept that momentum through the game at ECU.
She sank three 3-pointers in the first half — two in the second quarter, key to the heater USC went on during the period. Paopao has made at least two 3-pointers in all 11 games she’s played in for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina struggled with free throws. USC shot just 18 of 34 (52.9%) from the free-throw line.
Gamecock great A’ja Wilson posted about it on X (formerly Twitter) in the fourth quarter, predicting that associate head coach Lisa Boyer was less than content with the team’s performance: “I know Boyer HOT about these free throws!” with an exhaling emoji.
“It’s mental,” Staley said of the struggle. “I think when you start pointing things out like free-throw shooting, it seems to get worse.
“But we started this week trying to implement them in our drills and in our practices, just putting them in pressure free-throw type situations. Not necessarily game-winning free throws, but more like when they’re a little bit winded. So stopping the drill in the middle of it, hit the free throw. We weren’t good at those drills, so it was a direct reflection of today.”
Capitalizing on turnovers
Heading into Saturday’s game, East Carolina led the country in turnovers forced (averaging 28.2 per game, including 14.4 steals). South Carolina did a good job maintaining possession of the basketball in its previous two games after struggling to do so from the Tobacco Road trip onward.
But Saturday was the Gamecocks’ first game since Dec. 19 against Bowling Green. Coming off such a long break, they easily could have backslid. They weren’t perfect in this regard against ECU, turning over the ball 11 times (some because of ECU’s tenacious defense, and some because of poor decision-making when passing). But USC largely flipped the pregame narrative.
South Carolina made a significant impact by stealing possessions from ECU and turning 13 Pirates turnovers into 15 points.
“We made a concerted effort to take care of the basketball,” Staley said.
Next four South Carolina women’s basketball games:
This story was originally published December 30, 2023 at 2:07 PM.
