Kamilla Cardoso to miss Gamecocks’ next two games. Who’ll step up when she’s out?
South Carolina’s starting center Kamilla Cardoso played just nine minutes in the first half against Ole Miss on Sunday after picking up two quick fouls.
After getting her second foul a little over three minutes into the first quarter, Cardoso came out and Chloe Kitts came off the bench. The Gamecocks trailed 5-3.
Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 senior, would not return until the next period. USC ended the first quarter with a 17-15 lead. Cardoso’s absence gave the team an opportunity to see what it could do without its leading scorer (averaging 13.8 points per game) and rebounder (9.8 rebounds per game) before she misses South Carolina’s next two home games.
Cardoso was set to leave for Belém, Brazil on Sunday night, coach Dawn Staley said after the Ole Miss game, for one of four 2024 FIBA Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournaments. Cardoso will return next week, Staley said.
The center will play a role in Brazil Basketball’s quest to qualify for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. The qualifying tournament is scheduled for Feb. 8-11, which overlaps with South Carolina’s games against Missouri (Feb. 8) and No. 11 UConn (Feb. 11).
“When we recruited her, we said that if there’s an opportunity for you to go your national team, go with your national team,” coach Dawn Staley said. “... We’ll feel the void that Kamilla leaves with us, but I’m sure all the other post players are really preparing.”
One of those players is junior forward Sania Feagin. She’s been doing extra cardio for the last month or so, Staley said, knowing Cardoso would leave to play with her national team.
Another is sophomore Ashlyn Watkins. She started her second straight game Sunday in place of Kitts, who is recovering from an illness that kept her out of South Carolina’s game at Auburn. Watkins has responded well to the new responsibility, recording back-to-back double-doubles (with 14 points and 15 rebounds against Auburn and 11 points and 10 rebounds against Ole Miss). While Staley said Kitts will probably reclaim her starting role once she’s fully healthy, it is likely that the pair of sophomore forwards will start together against Missouri and UConn while Cardoso is away.
Cardoso wasn’t able to make much happen during the first half of South Carolina’s 85-56 victory over Ole Miss. She played nine minutes and shot the ball four times — sinking just one attempt. But she opened the third quarter with a different level of intensity, scoring 10 points (on 5-of-6 shooting) in 6 minutes. Cardoso backed down defenders and even dove for a ball headed out of bounds in the fourth quarter. She ended the game 17 points on 60% shooting, plus four blocks and two steals.
“She’s a difference maker,” Staley said. “I do think she needs to get more and more comfortable being the focal point.”
This season at South Carolina, Cardoso averages 25 minutes per contest, fourth-most of USC’s starters. Cardoso (alongside teammate Te-Hina Paopao) also made the Wooden Award Late Season Top 20 — a watch list for the prestigious John R. Wooden Award for Player of the Year.
Cardoso played with Brazil over the summer in the 2023 FIBA AmeriCup, where she helped guide her team to a gold medal over Team USA and earned the Tournament MVP honors. She averaged 10.9 points on a 58.5% shooting and 8.3 rebounds in 20.3 minutes per contest. Cardoso also blocked eight shots in the seven-game event.
Staley spoke in the preseason about how Cardoso’s AmeriCup experience seemed to coax out her ability to take charge of a game. Staley seems to hope the qualifying tournament experience will do that for her star center as well.
“It’s probably a little unnatural for her to be the centerpiece, because she’s very very unselfish,” Staley said. “But for what her national team is going to need in this coming week, she’s gonna have to shoulder some of that. So I’m hoping that they put her in a good position where it’s what we want. Like, she embraces being the focal point.”
