South Carolina Basketball: Gamecocks win ridiculous turnover-filled slog against top-11 Utah

South Carolina Basketball vs. Utah:
Statistics, Scoring, and Observations

In what was the ugliest game of the season for Dawn Staley’s South Carolina basketball team, the Gamecocks came out on top of the turnover-ridden contest by a score of sdfsdf

Utah

Points

Leader: Alissa Pili with 37

Rebounds

Leader: Jenna Johnson with 7

Assists

Leader: Ines Vieira with 7

Steals

Leader: Ines Vieira with 5

Blocks

Leader: Alissa Pili with 1

Other

Jenna Johnson drew 5 offensive fouls; Utah had 17 turnovers and shot just 25% from behind the arc

South Carolina

Points

Leader: Kamilla Cardoso with 17

Rebounds

Leader: Chloe Kitts with 7

Assists

Leader: Chloe Kitts and Raven Johnson each with 4

Steals

Leader: Te-Hina Paopao with 3

Blocks

Leader: Kamilla Cardoso, Ashlyn Watkins, and Bree Hall each with 2

Other

The Gamecocks had 23 turnovers, and 6 Gamecocks had multiple turnovers; Kamilla Cardoso, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Te-Hina Paopao, and Raven Johnson all had at least 3 giveaways; Fulwiley and Paopao were the only players to hit 3-pointers, but they combined to make 6

BOX SCORE

OBSERVATIONS

• Starters: Raven Johnson-Te-Hina Paopao-Bree Hall-Chloe Kitts-Kamilla Cardoso
  • After not starting the last game for disciplinary reasons, Raven Johnson and Kamilla Cardoso were back in the starting lineup against Utah.
• Both teams took very efficient shots early. Just one midrange (a make by Chloe Kitts) was taken in the 1st quarter as the Utes and Gamecocks took every other shot at the rim or behind the 3-point arc.
• The Gamecocks struggled on dribble-drive defense in the 1st quarter. In the 2nd quarter, they had no answer for Alissa Pili who dominated with 14 points. Cardoso and Watkins both had 2 fouls, and Pili feasted on the Gamecocks’ reserve post players. Even with Cardoso and Watkins in the game, she still was a formidable scorer. She finished the game with a career-high 37 points.
• In the 1st half, USC had seven offensive fouls. Cardoso had two, keeping her on the bench for a while.
  • The foul trouble spread as Ashlyn Watkins had two fouls and Sania Feagin had three fouls.
  • Utah’s Jenna Johnson was a flop master, drawing four of the offensive fouls. She drew a fifth in the 2nd half.
  • The Gamecocks committed three more offensive fouls in the 2nd half.
• The turnover numbers climbed and climbed for the Gamecocks throughout the game. The double-digit offensive fouls were part of the program, but South Carolina threw the basketball straight to Utah players repeatedly, and dead-on-arrival drives into the teeth of the defense were far too frequent, as well.
• The Gamecocks played a tight rotation. Just 7 players saw double-digit minutes on the court, and just 5 played more than 18 minutes.
• Tessa Johnson (who played just 8 minutes) was the only Gamecock without a turnover, and only Johnson and Bree Hall did not have a foul.