Gamecocks struggle with 3-pointers, free throws in home win
Like any young team, South Carolina expects growing pains.
The women’s basketball team started its season-opener against Elon on Friday exactly where it left off in its exhibition against Anderson — with an offensive effort that overwhelmed its opponent. The Gamecocks’ dominance in the opening minutes propelled them to a 77-44 win.
But after the starting lineup built an advantage, the young players struggled to find consistency, turning over the ball on quick passes and settling for outside shots.
“They’re going to make freshman mistakes, but I think at times when they played with the upperclassmen, they’ve been better,” said senior guard Ieasia Walker. “They were more calm and more confident with us on the floor today.”
Coach Dawn Staley said after USC’s exhibition against Anderson that the freshmen would not always look as good as they did in that game. Three freshmen scored double-digit points in the exhibition, and they contributed on the defensive end with steals and rebounding.
On Friday, South Carolina’s five bench players, including three freshmen and junior transfer Wilka Montout, were on the court for the final 10 minutes of the game without any substitutions. They committed five turnovers in that span.
“They’re going to be very inconsistent at times,” Staley said. “They were at times tonight. I thought we just tried to give them some experience that they needed. We could have subbed and made things look a little bit better, but they needed the experience, and we used that opportunity to give them experience.”
The Gamecocks’ offense thrived off its post play, finishing the night with 52 points in the paint and dominating the boards. But they struggled with both free throws and three-pointers.
USC shot just 50 percent at the line on the night, but Staley said the upside of all the misses was that USC was able to kick up offensive rebounds. Staley and Walker both said the players would need to practice on their own to improve their free throw shooting.
South Carolina did not make a single three-point shot in 14 attempts.
“We’re not going to live and die by the three,” Staley said. “I thought our players rushed a couple of shots tonight, but for the most part they took shots within what we were doing. When you miss as many as we miss, we just wanted to get one to go down. We thought it would lead to some success, but we couldn’t get that to happen.”
The freshmen faced their first road test on Monday night when the team traveled to Louisiana Tech, another young team that returns just one starter from last year. After Friday’s game, Staley said the Lady Techsters are an athletic team that USC can beat by being more disciplined.
Walker said she was concerned about how the Gamecocks would respond in their first game away from Colonial Life Arena
“Especially with a young team, we have to get them acquainted with playing in a hostile area,” Walker said. “It’s a different atmosphere there.”
But South Carolina’s new players did not seem perturbed by the road atmosphere. The Gamecocks cruised to their second win of the season, dominating 82-58.