It seems the Clemson Tigers aren't the only cats South Carolina women's basketball is zeroed in on. Earlier this season, the Gamecocks fell to the Missouri Tigers 83-74 in Missouri, and the team was looking for revenge Sunday night in Colonial Life Arena.
During the previous game, A'ja Wilson fouled out after playing only 20 minutes. South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley criticized officials for not protecting her players after game one. Staley was also ejected from that initial match-up after the South Carolina bench received a technical foul for not substituting fast enough after Wilson fouled out.
"I've never seen anybody play half a game like A'ja Wilson played today," Staley said following the early January game. "I don't know what it is, but we're going to figure it out."
After the controversy surrounding the previous game, officials were on high alert Sunday night. Still, they were unable to stop a brief scuffle from developing late in the second quarter following a fight for a loose rebound.
South Carolina's Doniyah Cliney and Missouri's Sophie Cunningham both picked up flagrant fouls as a result, and Nadia Green and Jordan Roundtree were ejected for leaving the Missouri bench. There is no exact reason for this dispute, but Staley believes that these teams get so heated because of the physical style that Missouri takes on when playing.
"Our players are on edge," Staley said. "They just don't wanna go into a game unprotected ... Intensity was high and I just saw some players trying to protect themselves, on both sides of the ball."
Even without the mid-game fight, the game was heated. From tipoff till the scoreboard ran down to the final second, Wilson and her teammates expected an intense environment.
"Coming in, everyone was like, 'Oh what's going to happen?'," Wilson said."Everybody was sitting on the edge of their seats."
Even though some questions remained unanswered, both Staley and Missouri coach Robin Pingeton were aware of the game's likely intensity.
"We knew there was going to be a lot of emotion in this game," Pingeton said.
While these teams do not play again in the regular season, they could possibly face each other in the SEC tournament come March. If they don't meet up, fans will have to wait until next season for this newly-developed rivalry to heat up again.