Is it possible this South Carolina women’s basketball team could be even better than last year’s?
Accomplishments-wise, it cannot be. The Gamecocks are coming off their second National Championship in program history after beating UConn 64-49 in the title game. In terms of record, it would be almost impossible after South Carolina finished the season 35-2 with the two losses coming by a total of three points.
But in terms of the mentality of the team, or how it can continue to raise its ceiling? Dawn Staley is optimistic.
“I like what I see,” Staley said after the team’s first practice of the season. “Everybody is different. Kamilla [Cardoso] is much, much different than she was last year. She’s dominant. Ashlyn Watkins — she doesn’t walk around here like a freshman. Talaysia Cooper — pleasant, pleasant, pleasant surprise on both sides of the basketball, she just competes. She doesn’t always do the right thing like a freshman, but it’s not from competing.”
Watkins and Cooper are the two new freshmen on the team, both coming from the state of South Carolina. The squad will have one transfer; guard Kierra Fletcher from Georgia Tech. The trio will fit into a squad returning four of its five starters, including National Player of The Year Aliyah Boston.
The experience these starters bring could be the greatest asset for this team as it makes its run towards a repeat. The core four starters — Boston, Zia Cooke, Victoria Saxton and Brea Beal — all went through the full grind last year starting in 36 out of 37 games together. Fletcher has never been through a deep NCAA Tournament run, but she started 111 games in four seasons at Georgia Tech and has over 3,500 minutes of collegiate basketball under her belt.
Laeticia Amihere and Olivia Thompson combined for 44 appearances off the bench last season and will provide senior experience to the depth group.
Not only is it inarguably one of the most talented teams in the country, but it is also one of the most mature ones as well.
“I definitely agree,” Boston said when asked if she felt like this was a more mature team this season. “I think there’s been a lot of growth, and I think just our experience, even the freshmen class last year was a big class, and they’re very experienced on the court. There’s a lot more communication, which I think shows our maturity.”
South Carolina’s only other attempt at a repeat was in the 2017-18 season, and the team made it back to the Elite Eight before falling to UConn. But it was a rocky slope throughout the regular season even with the run to the second weekend of the tournament. The team lost back-to-back regular season games — something it has only done once in the four years since — and lost seven games overall, their second-highest total for a season in the last decade.
It was something approaching a reloading year for the program, a transition year in between one championship squad and the early phases of the next one with Saxton and Destanni Henderson joining the next year.
“They’re eager to just get out there and play and win another championship,” Staley said. “This team is a much more driven and motivated team as a whole. The majority of them want to win; they’re competitive. So there’s no comparison [to 2018], they’re much more mentally tough.”
The first chance to repeat was a team in flux. The vibe this time is completely different. South Carolina is good enough to repeat and it has nearly all the players from last year’s team trying to make it happen. Now the task between Wednesday’s opening practice and the regular season opener on Nov. 7 will be to start ramping up to it.
