South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks crush Notre Dame in Paris behind dominant Cardoso and dynamic Fulwiley

South Carolina Basketball vs. Notre Dame:
Statistics, Scoring, and Observations

South Carolina basketball started slowly but moved on to dominate a shorthanded Notre Dame squad.

STATS

Notre Dame

Points

Leader: Hannah Hidalgo with 31

Rebounds

Leader: Natal Marshall with 6

Assists

Leader: Hannah Hidalgo and Kylee Watson with 3 each

Steals

Leader: Hannah Hidalgo with 3

Blocks

Leader: 4 players with 4

Other

Only one Notre Dame player (Natal Marshall) shot better than 50%)

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Kamilla Cardoso with 20

Rebounds

Leader: Kamilla Cardoso with 15

Assists

Leader: Raven Johnson with 7

Steals

Leader: MiLaysia Fulwiley with 6

Blocks

Leader: Kamilla Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins with 4 each

Other

Kamilla Cardoso had a double-double (20 points and 15 rebounds); MiLaysia Fulwiley and Te-Hina Paopao had 6 assists each; MiLaysia Fulwiley had 17 points; Sahnya Jah had 5 rebounds in 8 minutes; Sania Feagin had 12 points in 14 minutes

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Te-Hina Paopao-Raven Johnson-Bree Hall-Chloe Kitts-Kamilla Cardoso
• The Gamecock’s perimeter defense struggled early, and Hannah Hidalgo dominated the first quarter because of it. Carolina tightened things up in the second, holding Hidalgo to just 4 points after scoring 13 points in the first.
• Te-Hina Paopao was the obvious on-floor leader.
• Paopao, Cardoso, and Hall played the entire 1st quarter.
• When Paopao sat, Raven Johnson slid over to point.
• MiLaysia Fulwiley is special. SPECIAL.
• It will be impossible for Dawn Staley to play all three of Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao, and MiLaysia Fulwiley enough minutes. Don’t be surprised to see all three on the floor at the same time at some point this season.
• Chloe Kitts, who played more as a wing last season, played most of her time as a power forward on Monday, but as a skilled player, she still played some on the perimeter.
• Kamilla Cardoso is going to physically dominate a lot of teams this year.
• MiLaysia Fulwiley and Ashlyn Watkins were the most-used players off the bench before garbage time. Though Chloe Kitts started, Fulwiley and Watkins played more minutes. Sania Feagin, Tessa Johnson, and Sahnya Jah all got in before the final minutes. Sakima Walker played some in the 4th quarter.
• Dawn Staley ran more “small ball” lineups than in years past. Kitts, Watkins, and Feagin are all athletic enough to play the 3 but played the 4 a lot on Monday.
• Raven Johnson, Bree Hall, and Ashlyn Watkins look so much more confident as offensive players.
• The Gamecocks will shoot the ball from outside much better this season.
• This team is a real national contender once again.