A slam-dunk victory: How No. 3 South Carolina WBB handled No. 9 TCU on the road

The goal for the South Carolina women’s basketball team Sunday night: take 10.

Specifically, take a third top-10 win this season and add it to their collection.

Dawn Staley’s No. 3 Gamecocks got some fight from No. 9 TCU early, but pulled away in the 85-52 win at the US LBM Coast to Coast Challenge in Fort Worth, Texas. The third top-10 win is more than the program had in all of last-year’s regular season.

South Carolina (9-1) took command with an 11-0 run to finish the second quarter. TCU (9-1), in its first ever top-10 matchup, got within 10 with less than five minutes remaining in the second, but a rash of turnovers and issues on the glass prevented the Horned Frogs from capitalizing more on a strong shooting night.

In the first 20 minutes, the Gamecocks took the ball away 12 times and allowed only nine baskets. They forced 20 TCU turnovers on the game.

South Carolina will be off until next Sunday because of final exams week. The Gamecocks will take on South Florida at 2 p.m. Dec. 15 in Colonial Life Arena.

Three things we learned from the win over TCU:

Dunk city

Going up against one of the best rim protectors in the country, athletic Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins got in a stuff of her own. Specifically, late in the first quarter, she snatched a steal on the perimeter and took it in for a dunk with 6-foot-7 Horned Frogs center Sedona Prince trying to chase her down. It was the third dunk of Watkins’ college career.

“Ashlyn’s been practicing dunks for the past couple of practices and we always kid her that she doesn’t have her legs anymore, she can’t dunk anymore,” Staley said. “She actually was in shootaround today dunking and missing, then she makes a play, and I knew she would.

“When she did it, the place exploded. Our bench exploded and I think it’s great for our game”

South Carolina’s transition game got going early and often, which helped limit the impact of the towering Oregon transfer.

Watkins finished with six points, two rebounds, two steals and a block.

Professional drivers

Although the Horned Frogs came into the game with the second-best 2-point defense in the country, the Gamecocks did not seem too intimidated inside. They connected on five of their first 10 layups and never seemed shy about driving the lane. MiLaysia Fulwiley was particularly adept early, posting 11 points in her first nine minutes on the floor.

Fulwiley had a team-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting. She also had three steals.

“We are very patient offensively,” Staley told reporters. “We know what really works for us offensively. We know when we reverse the ball, it increases our shooting percentage. It’s unbelievable what it is, like unbelievable.”

Limiting Van Lith

TCU point guard Hailey Van Lith has a bit of history with the Gamecocks, having previously faced them as both a Louisville and LSU player. She’d averaged double digits in the previous three meetings, and hit that mark by halftime Sunday, posting 11 points on 5-of-11 shooting.

But she also coughed up five turnovers in her first 20 minutes (she hardly left the floor), which included Fulwiley flawlessly picking her pocket late in the first half for an easy run-out to extend the lead to 19.

Van Lith finished with 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting.

USC, TCU and Jeremiah Donati

While in Texas, Staley also got a bit of an introduction to her new boss, outgoing TCU athletic director Jeremiah Donati.

He was hired earlier this week at South Carolina to replace Ray Tanner, who held the job since 2012.

“Well, I just met him once,” Staley said after the win. “I met him before our game. It wasn’t really a whole lot of time, just chit-chat. I did text him when we got here just to see if his schedule was open to either come to a shoot-around. ... It probably wouldn’t be best to come to the game for some reason or another.”

Donati is set to start in Columbia in January. For now, he’s still overseeing the Horned Frogs.

He was the one who hired Mark Campbell to run the Horned Frogs’ women’s basketball program. The former longtime Oregon assistant won 21 games in his first season at TCU, coming from two years at Sacramento State, and had this year’s team off to a 9-0 start.

His predecessor had won more than 53% of his games, but slipped badly in his final two seasons.

“Mark just told me the reason why their program is where it is, Mark the TCU coach, is where it is today because of (Donati’s) contributions to his team,” Staley said, and that Donati is “like that with every team on campus. So we’re looking forward to having him and welcoming him, and hopefully TCU will find somebody equally as great.”

Donati had been AD at TCU since 2017. Staley’s tenure started before Tanner’s run as AD, as she was hired by Eric Hyman in 2008.

Next four South Carolina games

• Dec. 15: vs. South Florida, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Dec. 19: vs. Charleston Southern, 6 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
• Dec. 29: vs. Wofford, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
• Jan. 2: At Missouri, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)
  
  

This story was originally published December 8, 2024 at 8:48 PM.