Head coach Dawn Staley has built the South Carolina Gamecocks into one of the biggest powerhouses in women’s college basketball. The University of South Carolina has won her two national championships in the past six years and will enter the 2024 Women’s NCAA Tournament as the favorite to win it again.
South Carolina entered the SEC Tournament semifinal against Tennessee on Saturday afternoon with a 30-0 record. This looked like another easy win for Staley’s team. The Gamecocks held Tennessee to six points in the first quarter and took a 12-point lead in the fourth. At that moment, the Vols began a ferocious rally. Star wing Rikea Jackson’s layup with 25 seconds left gave Tennessee the lead and nearly handed South Carolina its first loss of the season.
South Carolina had a chance to win the game when it inbounded from half court with 1.1 seconds left. It went to Camila Cardoso, arguably the best player on the team and a promising star center. WNBA He’s a first-round draft pick, but he’s not exactly a shooter. Cardoso had never made a three-point shot in his college career.
Cardoso caught the ball and had no choice but to take a shot just before the buzzer sounded. She scored three game-winning goals to keep South Carolina’s perfect season alive. See the shot here:
Cardoso has only attempted one 3-point shot in her four years in college, and that was when she was a freshman at Syracuse University. She never attempted a 3 in her nearly full season at South Carolina…until now.
Tennessee’s defense…what is it doing? It’s true that the Vols listed Cardoso as a non-shooter in their scouting report, but that doesn’t mean she had enough time left to truly get a shutout. The Vols needed some kind of contest there. Instead, South Carolina made wide, wide, wide open threes with the game on the line, and Cardoso was lucky to make a bank shot to win the game.
With six seconds left, Tennessee had a 97.5% chance of winning the game. Oops!
Tennessee graduate Candice Parker called Las Vegas Aces teammate and South Carolina graduate A’ja Wilson to mock the Vols’ first loss to USC. The face says it all.
Open shooters will always close out, even if the player in question has never shot a three before. South Carolina still lives to see another undefeated season.
