Inside South Carolina Women's Basketball's "Locked In" First Half

Basketball so pure, crystal clear in its focus, direct in its intent and ruthlessly, staggeringly dominant it almost makes you question if anything preceding it was just an opening act. If you could bottle it up, you could make millions selling it to coaches.

South Carolina beat North Carolina 88-41 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, but you can scrape off the last 20 minutes of garbage time and still get the full picture.

It was 56-19 at halftime, and every ounce as lopsided as the score reads.

“We haven't played like that in a super long time,” Dawn Staley said. “We actually were talking about that in the coaches' locker room, like, we haven't played well all together. Every single of our players made an impact coming into the game.”

When James Naismith first hung up his peach basket in Springfield, Mass. 133 years ago, this was the idea he had in mind for a perfect version of his new sport.

South Carolina (34-0) played pretty well in the first seven minutes to take a 13-8 lead, then launched into orbit.

Active, aggressive ferocious defense, forcing six turnovers in 13 minutes to end the half and 11 overall. Forget room to breathe, North Carolina (20-13) never had room to think about breathing as a frontcourt featuring Kamilla Cardoso in her return and the always powerful trio of Ashlyn Watkins, Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin smothered the Tar Heels. The backcourt defending was engaged and dipping into passing lanes, enough to set up 13 points off turnovers before the break.

“When I step on the court, my main focus is usually defense,” MiLaysia Fulwiley said. “Once I'm playing good defense and I get good steals I feel my offense flows and comes to me. I was excited I got to be out there and get some stops on the defensive side and do some great things on the offensive side as well."

It was almost a full quarter of basketball — eight minutes and 44 seconds to be exact — between North Carolina made field goals, a period in which the Gamecocks stacked up 30 points.

There was beautiful, free-flowing offense, with 13 of the final 14 made field goals before halftime coming by way of an assist. The Gamecocks practically had the basketball on a string, toying with their defenders before whipping it to whoever happened to be open on that particular possession.

“I think we moved the ball really, really well,” Sakima Walker said. “And that's something she's [Dawn Staley] really been emphasizing is getting a lot of ball reversals and touches because we get better shots with us just playing unselfish and playing together.”

You could list most of the roster trying to decide who was most impressive. Tessa Johnson, coming back from an 0-for-7 shooting game on Friday to knock down three straight 3-pointers? Fulwiley was made to conduct this type of basketball symphony, and she had 11 points on just five shot attempts. She also hit three 3-pointers on as many attempts, accounting for almost half of South Carolina’s 8-of-10 effort from beyond the arc.

You could opt for Te-Hina Paopao, who stepped into two triples and had a team-high five assists. Kitts picked up where she left off Friday with 10 points in the half.

Even if completely infallible offense and defense is not enough for you, South Carolina was +10 in rebounding and corralled six offensive boards.

“One of our keys to the game was boxing out and rebounding,” Tessa Johnson said. “Last game they got a lot of second chances. So we had to, again, emphasize it and do our job.”

Put it all together, and this is what happens. A blowtorching of North Carolina’s season in which every single cog of the car’s machine worked in perfect harmony to create a Ferrari speeding towards the Sweet 16.

South Carolina will not have to play that well, or even close to that well to win a National Championship. This was basketball nirvana, and it would be unrealistic to expect it every time out. But even the flashes, the mere glimpses of it are enough to blitz a team quickly and surge in any game.

This team is capable of reaching a level of play nobody else can even touch, and it makes the Gamecocks deserving favorites heading into the second weekend.

“Absolutely not,” Paopao told GamecockScoop when asked if she had ever been part of a similar half. “I think everyone was just really happy with how we were playing. We just need to be locked in on both ends of the court, because that's what did us a favor in the first half. It was just a great day, and we really want to keep riding this wave because we all love this feeling."

This feeling was perfection. Four more performances even in the same realm as it will mean immortality.

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