South Carolina overcomes shooting woes, outlasts Maryland to reach Elite Eight
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — The second half of Friday's Birmingham 2 Regional doubleheader featured coaching royalty — South Carolina's Dawn Staley and Maryland's Brenda Frese. Each is a national championship-winning coach and they were facing off for an Elite Eight berth. The game itself lived up to the hype, with multiple lead changes in a closely fought game.
Ultimately, the No. 1 seed Gamecocks outlasted fourth-seeded Maryland 71-67. South Carolina will play in the Elite Eight for a fifth straight season and will try to advance to a fifth straight Final Four.
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Gamecocks sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley led all scorers with 23 points and added five rebounds and three assists. Junior Chloe Kitts chipped in 15 points and 11 rebounds to help pace the team. On the other end, Maryland's Kaylene Smikle had 17 points, tops among the four Terrapins who scored in double figures.
South Carolina (33-3) extended its winning streak to eight games and will play No. 2 seed Duke — on a nine-game streak of its own — on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET.
Maryland's chaotic week ends in narrow loss
Few teams have had a week as taxing as Maryland's. The Terrapins played a classic round-of-32 game against Alabama — an 111-108 overtime thriller — then quickly turned around and traveled to Birmingham to face the nation's most dominant program.
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'You look at a game where we had multiple players play close to the entire 50 minutes,' Frese said Thursday. 'For our staff, around the clock with the scouting that has to take place and the transfer portal that, fortunately for us, opened on Tuesday as well. Little to no rest, but a lot of reset for the kids. Then getting back to actual practice (on Thursday). A lot has been going on.'
Despite the circumstances, Maryland put forth an inspired effort, matching South Carolina at every turn and with a confidence that grew throughout the game. Toughness is a staple under Frese, and it was on display Friday, though the effort fell short.
A scoring drought at the most inopportune time doomed Maryland late — a three-plus minute stretch without points from the 3:25 mark to nearly the end of regulation (25 seconds). The result was a memorable March run that fell short of the Elite Eight.
Is there cause for concern for South Carolina?
For the second consecutive game, South Carolina trailed at halftime. That's not common for a program as dominant as the Gamecocks. The second quarter was particularly troubling, where South Carolina failed to score a basket for nearly six minutes. In that time, Maryland turned a 19-16 deficit into a 25-22 lead and held control for the remainder of the quarter.
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Kitts and Fulwiley combined for all 17 points in the first quarter, then went scoreless in the second. It was a collective struggle for South Carolina to find offense — the other four starters outside of Kitts combined to shoot just 1-for-13 from the field. As a team, South Carolina shot 32 percent from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line.
The second half saw a much better shooting split, particularly from the field at 48 percent. But the question looms: Would a similar scoring drought moving forward result in a different outcome?
Outside of the shooting woes, South Carolina committed 17 turnovers that led to 18 Maryland points. That will be another area of emphasis before Sunday's game against Duke.
While the offense evaded South Carolina in stretches, the defense made up for it, holding Maryland to 38 percent shooting from the field and 25 percent from the 3-point line in the second half. Those misses allowed for the Gamecocks to play in transition and create offense, but Staley will be looking for ways to activate her team in the halfcourt before her team plays again.
Fulwiley was needed spark for Gamecocks
There was perhaps no louder moment inside Legacy Arena than the 24-second mark in the third quarter, courtesy of Fulwiley. She grabbed a rebound and raced up the court. A behind-the-back move and fadeaway jumper later, South Carolina broke a 50-50 tie and carried that momentum to a close win. Those plays set Fulwiley apart, and it's what Staley wants to see her make consistently.
Fulwiley led all players with 16 second-half points. She's South Carolina's leader off the bench, and her development is a leading storyline. And taking Staley's coaching in stride has led to performances like Friday's game.
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'I think I kind of just took what (the coaches) were saying,' Fuwiley said Thursday. 'I had to understand that it's either I do it or I don't. I felt like I wanted to do it. It's been working for me lately. The standard that Dawn has got here is great, and I think every player should want to play under this standard.'
Fulwiley's continued growth will help define South Carolina, now and into the future, with senior guards graduating after this season. Friday's game was another example of her sky-high potential and what she's capable of doing when playing to that potential.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Maryland Terrapins, South Carolina Gamecocks, Women's College Basketball, Women's NCAA Tournament
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