No. 1 Gamecocks defeat Mississippi State Bulldogs in SEC home opener: What we learned
The Gamecocks played their SEC home opener Sunday in front of a raucous crowd that seemed to live and die with every basket.
It marked the first time No. 1 South Carolina had played at Colonial Life Arena since Dec. 16. The USC faithful gave the team a warm welcome, and in turn the team rewarded them with a hard-fought 85-66 win over Mississippi State.
USC (14-0, 2-0 SEC) started its usual first five: Te-Hina Paopao, Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and Kamilla Cardoso. Four Gamecocks ended with double-digit points — Hall (15), Cardoso (13), Kitts (12) and Paopao (12).
Here are three takeaways from the matinee game:
Bree Hall from 3
Junior guard Hall led the Gamecocks with three 3-pointers, two of which came in the third quarter. Through the first 30 minutes of the game, she shot 75% from the field (6-of-8 on two-pointers and 3-of-4 on 3s).
Ever since she exploded in South Carolina’s victory over then-No. 24 North Carolina, Hall has really come into her own on the offensive end of the court. After a slow start in USC’s first five games of the season and heading into Sunday’s game, she averaged 11.5 points on 62.7% shooting and 60% from 3-point range.
Hall ended the MSU game with 15 points on 66.7% shooting.
Kamilla Cardoso’s effort on offense
The Gamecocks worked to get Cardoso involved early after a tough scoring night (by her standards) against Florida, where she scored 10 points. While reflecting on her bigs’ defensive contributions postgame, coach Dawn Staley emphasized how they needed to be more involved on offense, Cardoso included.
She took several passes inside during the opening minutes of Sunday’s game, fighting hard through double teams to get to the basket. While not every shot Cardoso banked off the glass found its way through the net for some points, Staley smiled at her effort from the sideline.
Her production seemed to fall off in the second half, though she continued feeding her teammates to contribute on that end of the court.
She ended with 13 points and 14 rebounds, plus a team-high six assists. It marked her eighth double-double of the season.
Playing tough, but not to ‘the standard’
South Carolina trailed for almost seven minutes in the first quarter against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs made the Gamecocks hustle in what felt like the most closest three quarters of a home game and most competitive battle of the boards all season (USC had 44 rebounds to MSU’s 43). South Carolina also struggled to make layups, missing 20 of 34 attempts.
“We just played undisciplined, uncharacteristically on both sides of the basketball,” Staley said. “So that’s disheartening, because we worked really hard to have those instances not appear as much in a game, or we’re able to cover it up a little bit better.”
Still, some tough individual plays shone through.
Cardoso turned her back to the basket a few times to push her way through multiple MSU defenders who stood between her and a quick score.
Paopao had a wild steal in the second quarter. The MSU player she faced off against ended up on the floor, so Paopao had to walk over her without tripping and bounce the ball up to her person. She ran toward the basket for a layup, which sent the crowd onto its feet and resulted in an MSU timeout.
Ashlyn Watkins, sandwiched between two MSU defenders, broke through for a layup and one for her first bucket of the third quarter.
“I thought we did enough to win a basketball game but probably not enough to win this league,” Staley said.
Next four South Carolina WBB games:
- Jan. 11: at Missouri, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Jan. 15: vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 21: at Texas A&M, 5 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 25: at LSU, 8 p.m. (ESPN)
This story was originally published January 7, 2024 at 2:52 PM.
