South Carolina women's basketball: Monday Morning Musings - November 17

This is the debut of a new recurring feature for this season, where I pull together various observations, news, and notes from the previous week. The focus will start with South Carolina and the SEC, especially once conference play begins, but also include a broader look around the country.

For most of the year, it will run on Fridays, but will sometimes run on Mondays during the nonconference part of the season.

What I didn’t like last week: Duke, Pitt, Florida
What I’m not sure about: NC State, Southern Cal, Notre Dame
What I liked: UConn, South Carolina, and UCLA as the title favorites

Most teams are a work in progress

This probably shouldn’t be a surprise given how much roster turnover there is every offseason. There aren’t too many teams that look like a finished product. That includes South Carolina, which nonetheless looks like it is a title contender again. Maybe UConn and UCLA look like finished products, although UCLA hasn’t even gotten Sienna Betts on the court yet.

I’d also argue that this is why it is beneficial to play strong competition early in the season. You may be more likely to lose a game, but a Quad 1 loss in November isn’t going to matter to the selection committee in March. A loss to a bad team won’t be forgotten.

In praise of point guards

One of the reasons so many teams are still developing is that they don’t have true point guards. I don’t mean lead guards like Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo or NC State’s Zoe Brooks, who are outstanding players.

Look at the South Carolina-Southern Cal game as an example. Southern Cal essentially plays without a point guard. South Carolina has a fifth-year senior in Raven Johnson. It was a 32-30 rock fight at halftime, but the teams didn’t feel two points apart. 

Everything Southern Cal did was one-on-one, and shots were contested. South Carolina was spreading the ball and getting open looks that just weren’t falling. Sure enough, shots started falling for the Gamecocks, and they pulled away. Defensively, because the Trojans got predictable, the Gamecocks were able to swarm the basketball. 

South Carolina is one of those teams that is a work in progress, but having Johnson at point guard is a tremendous asset.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

Bad Losses Big Upsets

Let’s be positive and focus on the winners, not the losers. There was a run of upsets this weekend, including Navy beating Florida 69-54 and Jacksonville beating Georgia Tech 69-64. Even no. 14 Michigan’s 93-54 win over no. 18 Notre Dame was eye-opening because of the margin.

The second-biggest upset was probably Division III Scranton beating Pitt 69-63. As for the biggest shocker…

Short-handed West Virginia

At the end of the first half on Friday, Duke and West Virginia got into a little scuffle, just some shouting and shoving. No big deal, except that all of the players on West Virginia’s bench came onto the court, earning an automatic ejection. 

Not only did West Virginia have to play the second half with just five players, but four starters were among those ejected. And the Mountaineers won, building a 15-point lead and holding on for a 57-49 win, dealing preseason no. 7 Duke its second loss of the season. 

Duke has always struggled offensively under Kara Lawson, but has somehow gotten even worse this season. It was an inexcusable loss, and Lawson’s postgame press conference, where she repeatedly blamed her players, was a bad look.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!