No. 1 South Carolina only allowed 19 points in its rout of Mississippi Valley State on Friday, setting a program record for the fewest points allowed in a game. 

The Devils actually opened the game with a lead. They sank the first basket, and then the Gamecocks came to life. They went on to win, 101-19 — an 82-point margin. 

Seven South Carolina players registered double-digit numbers on the scoresheet, including Kamilla Cardoso, who put up a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Cardoso has four double-doubles in the Gamecocks’ five games. MiLaysia Fulwiley led her squad in the score column with 17 points. 

Cardoso’s stifling defense no doubt played a part in South Carolina’s victory. The six-foot-seven senior batted down five blocks, a third of her team’s total. The Gamecocks forced 19 turnovers and collected 20 points off the takeaways.

Te-Hina PaoPao returned to South Carolina’s lineup against Mississippi Valley and she contributed significantly to her team’s success. She is one of the seven players that reached double-digit scoring numbers with 10 points on the night and she grabbed 8 rebounds. 

“It makes a big difference to have someone like Pao who’s always cool, calm and collected,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said to Greenville News. “You have to guard her, and she doesn’t take bad shots. It was great to have her back on the floor.”

Sh’Diamond McKnight led the Devils in scoring with eight points. Her squad shot just 12% from the field and they scored just seven points in the second half.

Dawn Staley has been excited to see early-season upsets in women’s college basketball.

While her Gamecocks are a perfect 4-0, several of their top competitors already have been toppled. Preseason No. 1 LSU lost to Colorado to start the season, and preseason No. 2 UConn lost to NC State. And then-No. 2 Iowa was upset by Kansas State, almost one year after the Wildcats upset a top-5 Iowa team.

Meanwhile, Princeton nearly upset No. 3 UCLA, and Duke pushed then-No. 6 Stanford to overtime.

All of these are signs of growing parity in the women’s game, which Staley called “good for the sport.”

“I think women’s basketball is good,” she said after South Carolina’s 78-38 win over South Dakota State on Monday. “We could talk about parity, but we’re good. Our sport is at a really good place where anybody feels like they could beat anybody. It’s come to pass and I think that helps everybody else when you see it.”

While the Gamecocks have not yet been a victim, the upsets give them reason for better preparation, Staley said. After all, a team never knows if they could be next.

“When you see it, you prepare a little bit better,” she said. “You’ve got examples of what it could look like for you if you lose a basketball game. More so than just coaching your team up, they see it, they feel it. It is a real thing out there when you see teams get upset.”

And the upsets have come as the sport has reached new heights of popularity. With more eyes on the game than ever before, sometimes those upsets can feel monumental. But if you ask Staley, she’s seen this changing of the tides coming.

Earlier this month, Staley discussed the the rise in the sport’s popularity with Vanity Fair.

“Women’s basketball is bursting at the seams,” Staley said. “It is a long time coming.”

And that could mean a greater financial return, too. Broadcast rights for the NCAA women’s basketball tournament are set to be negotiated soon, and the deal could be worth more than $100 million.

“We need somebody to bet on us,” Staley said, “and I know that they’ll get a return on their investment.”

The revenge tour continues for Raven Johnson and South Carolina.

After knocking off two top-20 opponents in back-to-back games last week and taking over the No. 1 ranking from LSU, South Carolina dismantled Clemson 109-40 on Thursday. Gamecocks freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley was once again a walking highlight reel, while sophomore Raven Johnson put on a clinic with six points, 17 assists, eight rebounds and five steals.

Johnson joined some elite company with that performance. The guard is just the third Division I player in the last five seasons to register five points, five rebounds, five steals and 15 assists against a Power Five team, joining Courtney Vandersloot and Chelsea Gray.

Her 17 assists are also the second-most in a game in South Carolina history, and the most by any SEC player since 2005, according to ESPN Stats & Info.

“Going off from last season, the Final Four game, after we lost — the whole season I feel like everybody was riding our coattails, just hyping us up. As soon as we lost, we got all these hate comments,” Johnson said after the Clemson win. “I got bashed from a viral video that went so viral. People don’t know behind the scenes how I felt and what I went through. I think that put fuel to the fire.”

The viral video in question is of Iowa star Caitlin Clark waving off Johnson, refusing to defend her from the 3-point line during the teams’ matchup in the 2023 Final Four. Johnson went 3-for-6 from deep in South Carolina’s 77-73 loss to Iowa, and has since used that moment as fuel.

“I said this was a revenge season and I got something for everybody, every team that comes up,” Johnson said. “So I think that was the best thing that ever happened to me, and God does things for a reason. So maybe I needed that. But I’ll say this team, we’re coming for a lot. So it’s definitely revenge season.”

Joyce Edwards committed to South Carolina over LSU and Clemson. A conversation with WNBA star A’ja Wilson helped cement the decision for one of the top prospects in the class of 2024.

While Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley did a lot to bring in Edwards, who is the second-ranked prospect in the class, so did Wilson. Edwards had planned to wait until April to make her decision, when the regular signing period opens, but a meeting with the two-time WNBA champion during the Gamecocks’ 114-76 win over Maryland on Sunday helped seal the deal.

“Me and A’ja had a good conversation at halftime,” Edwards told the Greenville News. “All of the returning players there were really cool, but I had a conversation with A’ja specifically, because we play the most similar. She gave me a lot of good advice.”

South Carolina sophomore Chloe Kitts also provided a nudge, as the two played together this summer for Team USA at the FIBA U-19 World Cup. Kitts was “in her ear” the “whole time during USA Basketball” urging her to choose the Gamecocks, she said.

“I’m just so happy for her either way, even if she didn’t choose here,” Kitts said. “I actually sent her a message when I saw her top three just saying, do what’s best for you and where makes you happy. If it’s not here, then that’s OK. Go where you feel like you’re going to succeed.”

A native of South Carolina, Edwards chose to stay home with the Gamecocks, despite a big push from defending champion LSU. Staley is someone that she knows she can “count on” for anything, Edwards said.

“My top three schools were all kind of the whole package for me, but I knew I wanted to win as many national championships as possible, and Dawn really convinced me she can get me to that level,” Edwards said.

There was also the matter of her education. South Carolina does not have the specific engineering major that Edwards wanted, which almost kept her from the Gamecocks. But Staley worked with the university’s honors college to ensure that she could get the right degree.

“She tried her hardest and found ways to do it so I can get both experiences for my academics and athletics. It was just how hard she worked to not give up (on me),” Edwards said.

No. 1 South Carolina basketball is off to a historic start. The Gamecocks are averaging 107.0 points per game through their first two games of the season, shooting them up the AP Top 25 from No. 6 to No. 1. 

Such high-quality play is not uncommon under head coach Dawn Staley. And it shows in the program’s WNBA legacy. 

Staley has coached the Gamecocks since 2008, and since then, she’s helped produce multiple WNBA stars. Reigning WNBA Finals MVP A’ja Wilson, 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston, Tiffany Mitchell, Allisha Gray, Laeticia Amihere and more professional players came from Staley’s program.

“We produce pros,” Staley said. “The very best in the league. And if that’s not proof in the pudding, then this isn’t the place for you.”

South Carolina women’s basketball didn’t have this winning reputation when Staley took the helm in 2008, though. 

In 2008 and 2009, Staley and the Gamecocks had losing seasons. But every season thereafter, their record improved. South Carolina secured its first No. 1 ranking and its first Final Four appearance during the 2014-15 season. By 2022, the Gamecocks have appeared in four Final Fours and they’ve collected seven SEC tournament victories and two NCAA championships, among other accolades. 

Staley referred to her players as “the storytellers of the program.” While that may be true, South Carolina basketball likely would not have the WNBA pedigree that it has today without Staley’s coaching and guidance. 

Iowa basketball just missed out on its first No. 1 ranking in the AP Top 25 since 1988. But that “doesn’t matter,” head coach Lisa Bluder said.

The Hawkeyes moved up one spot to No. 2 following losses by the previous top two teams, LSU and UConn, in the opening week of the season. South Carolina jumped five spots to become the new No. 1.

UCLA, Utah and Colorado round out the top five in the new poll, released Monday, followed by No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 LSU and No. 8 UConn.

“We’ll see,” Iowa coach Lisa Bluder said about the No. 1 ranking after Sunday’s 94-53 win against Northern Iowa. “It really doesn’t matter if we are or not. It’s a long year. What are we this week? Three? That’s darn good too.”

Star senior Caitlin Clark agreed, saying: “I think it was a good (week), it gets you off on the right note. But our group is mature enough to know this is just the starting block.”

The Hawkeyes were buoyed, of course, by Clark. After putting up 44 points in an 80-76 win against No. 8 Virginia Tech on Thursday, she put up the 12th triple-double of her career against UNI.

Her 24 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds made history: She is now Iowa’s all-time leading scorer. And she joins Oregon-turned-WNBA star Sabrina Ionescu as the only NCAA Division I players to record triple-doubles in four separate seasons. Ionescu finished her career with 26, and Clark is second on the all-time list.

Following Iowa’s win over UNI, Panthers head coach Tanya Warren called Clark “the best player in the country.”

“Caitlin Clark is the best player in the country,” Warren said. “No ifs, ands or buts about it. You’re not going to stop her, you’re not going to contain her. You just want to make things tough for her.”

Ahead of the game, Clark knew she was close to Iowa’s all-time scoring record, which was held by former national player of the year and current Phoenix Mercury center Megan Gustafson.

“Megan’s been our biggest fan on this whole journey,” Clark said. “Megan reached out to me last night and said, ‘You’re very, very deserving of this. Go out there and do it.’ It’s not the first time she’s reached out and texted me. She’s always there. And that’s not fake — Megan is one of the best people of all time.”

And Gustafson gave Clark praise following the record-breaking performance.

“Congrats on breaking my record,” she said. “As soon as I watched you play as a freshman I really did know that, my record [was] not gonna last very long. But that’s a huge tribute to the program that Iowa has built, that you have built. You’ve inspired so many kids, boys and girls, all over the world, all over the state of Iowa.”

But Clark doesn’t want to hold onto the record.

“Records are meant to be broken,” she said. “So I hope Iowa has a really great player one day who can break mine, too.”

After going shot-for-shot with No. 6 South Carolina for much of the first two quarters, No. 14 Maryland fell apart before halftime at Colonial Life Arena.

The Gamecocks went on a nine-point run in the final minute of the first half on their home court to secure a firm lead after 20 minutes of play. And their high rate of scoring continued for the rest of the game, adding to their historic start to the season.

South Carolina went on to beat Maryland by a score of 114-76 — the most points in a single game for the Gamecocks since 2020 and the most points against a ranked opponent in program history. Following on a 100-71 season-opening win against Notre Dame, South Carolina has scored at least 100 points in the first two games for the first time in program history.

“I actually think they’re better than last year,” Maryland head coach Brenda Frese said after the game.

The Gamecocks exploited the Terps’ zone defense and pulled them out of the paint. South Carolina pulled down a staggering 53 rebounds to Maryland’s 33, which allowed the Gamecocks to drop 28 second-chance points.

The Terps also struggled to maintain possession of the basketball — South Carolina forced 15 turnovers and was able to convert them to 23 points. 

The game ended with seven Gamecocks scoring in double figures. And if the loss wasn’t enough for Maryland, its highest scorer, Shyanne Sellers, exited the game late in the fourth quarter with an apparent injury to her foot. 

South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley’s squad was said to be “renovating” its lineup this year after losing 2023 WNBA rookie of the year Aliyah Boston and other starters. Yet the Gamecocks are averaging 107 points per game.

Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston could be WNBA teammates in 2024, and they are well aware of the possibility.

Clark enters the college basketball season as the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. The Iowa superstar has yet to determine whether she’ll go pro or return for a fifth year with the Hawkeyes — but if she heads to the WNBA, there is a good chance she will wind up with Boston.

The Indiana Fever selected Boston with No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft, and the former South Carolina standout went on to become the unanimous selection for WNBA Rookie of the Year. The Fever also hold the best odds for the No. 1 pick in 2024, with a 44.2% chance of winning the draft lottery on Dec. 10.

Boston, who is making her broadcast debut as an analyst for Big Ten basketball games this season, sat down with Clark in October for a Taylor Swift-themed interview. So it was inevitable that the draft would come up.

“Well, the Indiana Fever could have the first pick, so maybe we’ll have the duo,” Clark said. “I don’t know. Remains to be seen. But me and Aliyah might be teammates at some point, you never know.”

Of course, the two aren’t strangers to one another on the court. Clark and Iowa beat out Boston and South Carolina in the 2023 Final Four, and the two also have been teammates on Team USA.

“We were teammates before, so maybe we’ll have to reconnect,” Clark said of the WNBA draft, to which Boston replied: “Exactly.”

Still, Clark is entering her senior season with her mind open to all possibilities. But she knows she does not want to live with any regrets.

“I don’t know if I’m going to stay, I don’t know if I’m going to go,” she said. “I think it’s just something that, your time in college is so special. It’s different from being a pro. Obviously I haven’t lived that, but you just kind of know that from watching the WNBA, I’m a big fan. And I just want to experience every single moment and really soak it in. Soak in the games we lose, soak in the games we win.

“I feel like I was just a freshman — you can probably say the same. Time flies by, but these are some of the best moments of your life. So I think the biggest thing is, I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but I’m just going to enjoy every single experience that I have this year because each one is unique and each one is special in its own way.”

South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo were playing in their first college basketball game Monday.

Not only that, but they were playing their first college basketball game all the way across the Atlantic Ocean in Paris. And they were doing so in front of a national audience on ESPN.

None of that slowed down the freshmen phenoms, who received praise from NBA legend Magic Johnson, Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant and Indiana Fever star Aliyah Boston.

Fulwiley and the No. 6 Gamecocks won the day, claiming a 100-71 win over the No. 10 Irish at Halles Georges Arena to open the season. A guard out of Columbia, South Carolina, Fulwiley contributed 17 points, six assists and six steals off the bench in her debut. She also made what Johnson described as “the best move in all of basketball.”

“I’m watching the women’s basketball game between South Carolina and Notre Dame right now and I just saw the best move in all of basketball, including the pros like LeBron, Steph, KD, Victor, and Jokic,” Johnson wrote on social media. “Everyone must see the coast-to-coast, behind-the-back move by freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley from South Carolina. WOW!!”

Fulwiley discussed the move with ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the game, saying: “That was my favorite move when I was in high school. So I just did it.”

Hidalgo, who hails from Haddonfield, New Jersey, scored a game-high 31 points. She became just the third guard since 2009 to score 30 or more points against the Gamecocks, joining Chennedy Carter and Paige Bueckers, per Her Hoops Stats.

“Hidalgo and Fulwiley moving DIFFERENT out here,” Durant wrote on social media.

Notre Dame and South Carolina are facing off in Paris, France, to kick off the women’s college basketball season.

It will be the first NCAA regular-season basketball game on Parisian soil. And for South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, the significance of the game extends beyond just that.

It’s something that Staley has dreamt of, as she has watched major sports leagues such as the NFL go overseas with their regular-season games.

“I always thought, why couldn’t we do it?” she told ESPN. “And then, what do you know? We’re doing it. I think it’s great.”

Part of why it’s great is because the trip will be educational for players. While it “is a business trip” – after all, the team isn’t going to Paris to lose – they’re also taking advantage of the experience of going overseas.

“We’re talking about the student-athlete experience,” Staley said. “We try do to that right here in our home country, in our home state. But when you’re able to give young people an experience like this, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We don’t know what we’re going to experience. It’s all very new to all of us, but I know we’re gonna have a good time.”

To her, it also represents how far the Gamecocks have come.

“We are a brand here at South Carolina. People want us to participate in things like this,” she told South Carolina news station WLTX. “I’m happy for our fans, they get a chance to cheer us on. We wanted the event organizer to put a fan package together for our fans and it sold out within hours. So, the power of what we created here, we travel well as far as our fans. They follow us.

“I think it’s pretty darn cool to be trendsetters in women’s basketball, something that has never been done before.”

The game will be broadcast on ESPN at 1 p.m. ET Monday.