And exhale.

No, South Carolina women’s basketball did not fix its existential issues with a comfortable win over a projected SEC bottom-feeder. How it will fare without Ashlyn Watkins against top-tier competitions remains to be seen. But for 40 minutes, South Carolina returned to the friendly confines of Colonial Life Arena for the first time in 2025, got off to a fast start, saw solid performances from the players who will have to step up and replace Watkins and cruised to a 90-49 conference victory.

For now, that’s enough.

"We wanted to get off to a quicker start, a better start, and we did," Dawn Staley said. "I thought we held serve. The people that we put in the game came in and impacted it, no matter how much time or how little time. We're just working towards elevating the end of our bench."

South Carolina (15-1, 3-0 SEC) has cleaned up its first three conference games with a trio of wins by a combined 99 points, and now enters a stretch of five straight games against ranked opponents starting with No. 5 Texas at home on Sunday afternoon.

But in the final tune-up game before the most taxing stretch of the regular season, South Carolina fired on all cylinders. The Gamecocks started the game on time, something which has been far from a given this year. South Carolina led by 15 after a quarter and never looked back. It handled Texas A&M’s (8-7, 1-2 SEC) main scoring threat Aicha Coulibaly, holding her to just eight points and two over the final three-and-a-half quarters after she scored six early.

Best of all for South Carolina moving forward, its post players dominated. Everyone who is going to have to pick up a little more of the slack over the next three months without Watkins available got off to a great start in that department. Joyce Edwards scored 19 points, just one away from tying her career-high while also grabbing nine rebounds. She linked up with Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin at different points in the game, as the two starting forwards both scored in double-figures.

"I feel like everybody is stepping up," Edwards said on replacing Watkins. "You don't try to fill in for her position, you just do what you do and at the end of the day everyone will elevate their game."

Even Maryam Dauda, the seldom-used Arkansas transfer, saw a significant increase in her involvement. Dauda had not touched the floor in the first half of a game since the Gamecocks played East Carolina on Nov. 17, but had stints in both the first and second quarters along with her usual second half minutes to help clean up the void without Watkins. Sakima Walker returned from injury for her first live game action since Nov. 28, and Adhel Tac also joined the rotation in the second quarter.

A total team effort, especially defensively. The Gamecocks held Texas A&M to just .662 points per possession, the second-lowest total it has limited any team to all season. They forced 14 turnovers, created two separate stretches over five minutes long — including the final 6:25 of the first half — without allowing a point and used the defense to create transition offense.

MiLaysia Fulwiley added to her growing highlight reel with a dazzling behind the back layup, Bree Hall knocked down a pair of 3-pointers early in the second half and Feagin, the forward who had not even attempted a triple all season, pulled out her best Kamilla Cardoso impression and knocked one in from the top of the key.

"I think we were locked in," Staley said. "We understood that they're a very physcial defensive team. They cut your vision down, they make it hard for you to make catches. So most teams that play that style, if you give it back to them, it can cause a disruption."

In short, it was exactly what the doctor ordered after an emotional weekend in Starkville.

Can it sustain with five straight ranked opponents coming up, including the likely biggest threat to an SEC title in Texas coming to town on Sunday?

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