South Carolina struggled early before regaining its form and cruising to a 98-41 win over Benedict in an exhibition game.

A sluggish start by South Carolina and some lucky shots by Benedict gave the Tigers the lead with less than three minutes to play in the first quarter. A 6-0 run gave South Carolina the lead going into the second quarter and they slowly found their form.

Benedict started out 6-14 shooting (42.9%) over the first 7:30, but then finished 2-19 (10.5%) and missed the last 11 shots of the half. South Carolina made 9-12 shots as part of a 20-1 run to end the half.

“The three point shot was a weapon for them and they hit some early in the first quarter and stretched us out a little bit. They were tough, meaning tough-minded, and they played with a lot of energy,” Dawn Staley said. “I don’t know if we outworked them, that’s hard to tell. I think we out-talented them. I’d like to have a better combination of out-working and out-talenting our opponents.”

The second half went more according to expectations. South Carolina outscored Benedict 26-9 in the third quarter and 24-7 in the fourth, and Elysa Wesolek and Olivia Thompson got to make their customary late game entrance.

Kamilla Cardoso, the 6-7 transfer from Syracuse, was dominant against undersized Benedict. She finished with 18 points on 8-9 shooting, 13 rebounds, and somehow only three blocks, although it seemed like many more.

“Kamilla is a sponge. She really understands how to play. You can implement things and it only takes her one look to see it and execute it,” Staley said. “She’s a willing passer, probably too selfless.”

Behind Cardoso, the newcomers had most of the highlights for the Gamecocks. Raven Johnson had eight points, seven assists, and two steals, and showed outstanding court vision and creative passing. Bree Hall had three points, three rebounds, and two steals. Sania Feagin only played seven minutes, but had four points.

But the most impressive game came from Saniya Rivers. She had 11 points and filled the box score with two rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Rivers scored from all over the court and displayed silky smooth athleticism.

“I think I did all right,” Rivers said. “My threes weren’t going as well as I expected so I had to make other plays for myself. I created midrange shots, created for my teammates, rebounded, played defense.”

She’s an elite offensive player,” Staley said. “She’s got that it factor when it comes to offense. She also has to play a little bit more aggressive on both sides of the basketball. The hardest thing for her is defending, keeping somebody in front of her. She’ll get it.”

Aliyah Boston only played 17 minutes but chipped in 12 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks. Brea Beal added eight points and nine rebounds, but the most encouraging part was that she went 2-3 from three.

South Carolina shot 50.6% for the game, but layups are what everyone wants to know about. South Carolina was 23-38 on layups,

Notes:

As expected, LeLe Grissett did not play as she continues to recover from the leg injury she suffered in the SEC Tournament final. … Zia Cooke did not play, and is day-to-day with a right ankle injury. She was moving around fine during pregame warmups and Staley said Cooke could have played if it were a real game. … Rivers played the game with a plastic mask. She broke her nose during a rebounding drill with one of the practice guys two weeks ago. “It’s broken but it’s in line so at least it didn’t mess up my good looks,” Rivers said. … Laeticia Amihere added 12 points, five rebounds, and four assists. … South Carolina outrebounded Benedict 64-31. … The Gamecocks had 12 blocks. … South Carolina was just 7-11 (64%) from the foul line. … South Carolina opens the season November 9 at NC State.

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