Injuries mount as Gamecocks beat MSU: 'Someone had to step up'

Junior forward Ashlyn Watkins went down with what appeared to be a significant injury with 7:42 to go in the second quarter of South Carolina’s 95-68 win at Mississippi State. She went down holding her left knee, and was unable to put any weight on it as team trainer Craig Oates and director of player personnel Freddy Ready carried her off the floor straight into the locker room. She did not return to the game, and was not even on the bench for the rest of the afternoon.

Dawn Staley did not have an update post-game on what her timeline would be, but the optics were bad. At best, Watkins is probably going to miss some time. At worst, she could be out for the season.

What will the response be? In the short term, it was a 27-10 burst to close the half and re-establish game control in a tough road environment.

“I think psychologically for our players, they took it to another level,” Staley said. “We didn’t say anything, and we try not to. We try to just keep things moving.”

In the long term, with five ranked opponents left on the schedule in January alone, losing Watkins would be a significant blow. South Carolina (14-1, 2-0 SEC) is already down guard Maddy McDaniel and forward Sakima Walker at the moment, meaning a Watkins injury would drop the current numbers to 10 healthy scholarship players and only eight who regularly play substantial minutes.

There is a scenario where the injury is not as bad as it looked, and Watkins can return to this frontcourt. But at this point, it is at least a problem.

Is it fixable?

Tessa Johnson was the first answer. The sophomore guard scored a career-high 22 points, scoring eight in a row during a 16-0 run in the second quarter to wake her teammates up out of a first quarter slumber and get a sputtering offense back on track. Johnson is still coming off the bench with MiLaysia Fulwiley as the top two guards who don’t start, but her development at both ends of the floor has been a saving grace for South Carolina through some inconsistent play.

“Tessa was just lights out,” Staley said. “Tessa was locked, loaded and ready to shoot the ball when she was open. Her focus goes to another level when we’re down. She seems to hit big shots when we’re down, so it was good to see her see the ball go into the hole.”

Chloe Kitts, who surely will see her minutes take another jump if Watkins misses time, also got it moving again offensively after a lengthy dry spell. The junior forward who started the season a force to be reckoned with, at times single-handedly carrying the Gamecocks while their guards struggled, had not scored more than 10 points in a game in a full month. She had 17 and 10 rebounds against the Bulldogs, consistently driving the lane and using her size to create challenges for her opponents.

South Carolina had a tough enough time finding offense when Kitts was not her best self and Watkins struggled. If Watkins is not there, it will become absolutely imperative for Kitts to play the best basketball of her career in the coming months.

Between Kitts, Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao’s 15 points, it was enough to overcome the initial shock of the injury and cruise.

“We're having her back out there,” Johnson said. “Obviously she's a big piece of our team, so someone had to step up."

Someone stepped up, and it might have to be that way for a while.

This is an undeniable problem, but there at least might be some solutions.

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