South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - North Carolina
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1. Remember me?
The Gamecocks and Tar Heels are no strangers. They played three times in the tournament since 2014, with South Carolina winning twice (2015 and 2022), scrimmaged against each other in the last two seasons, and played in Chapel Hill earlier this season.
There aren’t a lot of surprises left for these two teams in terms of scheme.
“North Carolina is going to be a challenge for us, no doubt about it,” Dawn Staley said. “But it’s cool because we’ve got a scouting report. We can see how far they’ve improved. We can see some areas in which we can hopefully gain an advantage in how they’ve played. So it’s pretty cool.”
The Gamecocks have won the last three games between the teams. Several Tar Heels called the matchup a revenge game, but also noted that is secondary to the chance to advance to the next round.
“Obviously for us it is because we played them in the Sweet 16 two years ago. So this will be our second time playing them in March,” Deja Kelly said. “So in that way it is, but I think the biggest way for us to look at it is just the next game. I don’t want to put a title to it. I don’t want to make it seem bigger than it is, quote, unquote.”
2. Kamilla and Breezy are back
Kamilla Cardoso returns to the lineup after serving her one-game suspension for being ejected for fighting in the SEC championship game.
Bree Hall returns after sitting out the Presbyterian game for precautionary reasons. (I speculated it could have been knee soreness because she was wearing a brace on Thursday, but she assured us she just wasn’t feeling her best.)
South Carolina barely missed a beat without them on Friday, but North Carolina is a much tougher challenge.
Both players had big games against the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill. Cardoso had 16 rebounds to go with six points and four blocks. Hall had a team-high 15 points and played tough defense on Deja Kelly, including a key fourth-quarter block.
3. Rebounding and defense
The Tar Heels outrebounded the Gamecocks 45-39 in the first meeting, something not many teams are able to do. Alyssa Ustby had 12 and Maria Gakdeng had 10. Gakdeng had another 10 rebounds in the first-round win over Michigan State, and Ustby had a whopping 17.
“They played really hard,” said Chloe Kitts. “They rebounded a lot last game until the end of the game they had more rebounds than us. We know we need to not overlook them and try to stop their transition and just play as hard as we can.”
South Carolina generally played good defense against Presbyterian, but there were some noticeable lapses. That continued a trend that began in the SEC Tournament when late lapses let Tennessee and LSU make late comeback attempts.
“We had some miscommunication, but it’s gonna happen and we’re gonna clean that up as well,” said Hall.
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4. Keep Calm
In the first game back in November, there was a dust-up involving Ashlyn Watkins and Deja Kelly, among others. Kelly is quite charming and genuine off the court, but on the court she likes to get under opponents’ skin.
That altercation only resulted in technicals on Watkins and Kelly, but there easily could have been technical fouls on Cardoso and Ustby, among others (and Kelly probably got away with one earlier in the game).
The Gamecocks can’t let Kelly or any of the other Tar Heels get under their skin. The game will be physical to begin with and fouls will likely be crucial.
5. Scouting the Tar Heels
North Carolina always seems to play South Carolina close. The Gamecocks had to come back from an 11-point deficit to win in November, and it took one of the all-time great performances from Aliyah Boston to win in 2022. Even in 2015, it took a clutch basket from little-used Olivia Gaines to pull out the win.
Courtney Banghart said there is no secret formula to being competitive.
“Part of South Carolina’s brilliance is, as these guys have said, how competitive they are across the roster. If you have some weak links competitively, you’re going to get blown out,” she said. “We’ve recruited really competitive kids that meet that moment. We were able to get out in transition a bit. We were able to run because if they’re going to be big, it’s pretty hard to be big and fast.”
North Carolina has been hit hard by injuries. Kelly is the Tar Heels’ fourth point guard of the season, and her backup, Sydney Barker, is a former walk-on who was put on scholarship in February (and is playing with a broken nose).
North Carolina’s rotation is basically six players (two more played single-digit minutes against Michigan State), and Banghart uses her timeouts strategically for rest. But with Kelly as their emotional leader, the Tar Heels make up for it with effort.
“They are very aggressive and if we don’t come out there with heart it’s gonna be a tough game,” Fulwiley said.
The Ws
Who: #1 South Carolina (33-0, 16-0 SEC) vs #8 North Carolina (20-12, 11-7 ACC)
When: 1:00 ET, Sunday, March 24
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: ABC
A fan sendoff for the team will happen at 10:45 am at the Marriott Columbia at 1200 Hampton Street.
