PARIS — It was two points, but it felt like 200.
Episode one of the Milaysia Fulwiley hit international television Monday night in Paris.
South Carolina’s true freshmen sensation, the local product from Keenan, scored 17 points and added six assists in her collegiate debut and ignited a social media storm as the No. 6 Gamecocks defeated No. 10 Notre Dame 100-68 in the first ever college basketball game in Paris.
The world-shaking moment, the type of snapshots you think of for years to come as signature moments in the development of a superstar, came midway through the second quarter as South Carolina (1-0) began to take off after a rugged start. Fulwiley danced through traffic, took flight at the free throw line, moved the ball around her back and changed hands mid-air before finishing at the rim with her left hand.
Electric. Sensational. Unprecedented.
Game over, right there.
Notre Dame (0-1) freshman Hannah Hidalgo came out hot in her own right with 13 points in the first quarter and 31 total to open her collegiate account, but it was only enough to keep the FIghting Irish in the game for a little over a quarter.
Notre Dame led 27-24 early in the second quarter when Fulwiley entered the fray, joining her fellow fast-paced guard Raven Johnson on the floor. The two scored on consecutive transition possessions to give South Carolina the lead, and the run-and-gun offense never looked back. South Carolina outscored Notre Dame 24-10 in the second quarter to take a commanding lead into the locker room, turning up the intensity defensively and using the transition game to run the Fighting Irish out of the gym.
Kamilla Cardoso — elevated to the starting lineup after Aliyah Boston and Victaria Saxton’s departures — jumped in with a career day all around. The Brazillian forward scored 20 points and pulled in 15 rebounds, reigniting her connection with Johnson, the new starting point guard, after the duo excelled in a bench unit last season. Johnson herself picked up where she left off in the assist department, dropping seven in including a slick pass on the run to freshman Sahnya Jah who scored her first collegiate points at the third quarter buzzer.
Everything clicked for the newcomers beyond just the freshmen, as Oregon transfer Tehina PaoPao was the lone fresh face in the program who started. It was her 77th career collegiate start, dwarfing the combined total of four for the other starters. She showed the experience at both ends of the court, helping South Carolina settle in defensively and knocking down her trademark 3-pointers with a pair of triples and a total 6-of-10 shooting in her team debut.
All 11 Gamecocks hit the floor as the game reached blowout territory in the fourth quarter, meaning Sakima Walker and Tessa Johnson aso christened their South Carolina careers in Paris. The outcome was academic by this point, but the looming excitement behind the new players and the start of a new era for the program. Tessa Johnson had an impressive steal that led to her first college assist late, and Sania Feagin scooped in an acrobatic putback to add to her highlight reel as the closing seconds ticked off on the landmark game.
South Carolina will be back in action in much more familiar circumstances, but with another top-15 team on the other bench when No. 14 Maryland travels to Colonial Life Arena at 1 p.m. ET Sunday.
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