South Carolina Basketball: 3 thumbs up, 3 thumbs down vs. Maryland

The “other Gamecocks” were awesome on Sunday. While Kamilla Cardoso is the team’s best player and MiLaysia Fulwiley is the team’s most exciting, it was a group of other players who carried the load against Maryland. Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins both had double-doubles, Te-Hina Paopao and Raven Johnson both had 8 assists, and Tessa Johnson added a really nice all-around effort, as well. If the Gamecocks can score 114 without getting top marks from Cardoso and Fulwiley, what are they capable of doing to teams if everything goes well?. . South Carolina Gamecocks. NON-STARS STEP UP . Thumbs Up

Thumbs Up. Before the game tipped, if someone told you that the Gamecocks were going to drop 114 points against Maryland, you probably would have thought that at least one player would have gone for a massive 30-point explosion. That isn’t what happened on Sunday afternoon, however. Instead, Te-Hina Paopao led USC with just 14 points. The scoring was well-distributed throughout the roster as 7 Gamecocks finished with at least 10 points, and Sania Feagin, Raven Johnson, and Sahnya Jah were just off the pace with at least 7 points each. A team that has so many capable scorers who can put the ball in the basket in a variety of different ways is extremely dangerous. The Gamecocks are for real, no matter what analysts tried to claim that this would be a “rebuild.”. . South Carolina Gamecocks. SCORING DISTRIBUTION

South Carolina Gamecocks. IT'S A NEW DAWN . Thumbs Up. South Carolina basketball head coach Dawn Staley was already one of the best coaches in the country and of all-time before this season even started. However, through two games, she has shown something else that only adds to her greatness: an ability to adapt. The Gamecocks lost in last year’s Final Four because they couldn’t shoot the ball well enough outside of the paint. This offseason, she snagged one of the best shooters in the country out of the transfer portal (Te-Hina Paopao), worked with her guards and wings to get better and more consistent (Raven Johnson and Bree Hall look so much more confident), and has started to play some lineups with a more versatile power forward (Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin, Sahnya Jah) which she hasn’t done in several years. Coach Staley is elite and has proven that in an all new way so far in the 2023-2024 season..