How Dawn Staley, South Carolina adapted without Kamilla Cardoso, Bree Hall in NCAA Tournament

COLUMBIA — Absent two starters in its NCAA tournament opener, South Carolina women’s basketball didn’t blink against Presbyterian.

The Gamecocks (33-0), the overall No. 1 seed, were ready to roll without senior center Kamilla Cardoso and junior guard Bree Hall, with five of their eight available players scoring in double figures in a 91-39 win over the No. 16 Blue Hose (21-15) on Friday at Colonial Life Arena.

“This team is ready for anything,” freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley said. “We practice hard. We switch it up in practice — sometimes the second string does better than the first string. We believe in each other.”

South Carolina will face No. 8 seed North Carolina (20-12) for the second time this season Sunday at Colonial Life Arena.

The Gamecocks were prepared to play without Cardoso on Friday, who was suspended one game for her role in a scrap against LSU in the SEC Tournament championship game on March 10. Hall’s absence, which South Carolina confirmed was for precautionary reasons, was more surprising.

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South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said she expected Hall to be ready to go Sunday.

“I'm not concerned," Staley said. "It was just something that we felt we had enough to go into this game and win the game. We'll see how she feels tomorrow but she was fine."

It wasn’t the biggest challenge for the Gamecocks; they defeated the Blue Hose 99-29 on Dec. 16, 2023, and were heavy favorites to beat them again. If two starters were to miss a tournament game, this wasn’t a bad one.

“I’m just glad it was this game,” senior guard Te-Hina Paopao said. “I’m really happy to have them back on Sunday. We just have to keep it rolling.”

Any other team in the country might show signs of struggling without an All-American like Cardoso. South Carolina’s depth, however, is what makes it different from other teams.

Five players scored in double figures, led by 21 points from sophomore Chloe Kitts, who also had a game-high 13 rebounds. Paopao tacked on 18 points and Fulwiley had 17 in her first career NCAA tournament game.

The Gamecocks have been able to maintain a heavy rotation throughout the season — nine players average at least 15 minutes per game, and nobody averages more than 27.

“If you lean too heavy on not having those players, the other players will feel it,” Staley said. “The eight players that were ready to go were good at what they did.”

Kitts and Fulwiley each got moments to star Friday. After starting 28 of her 31 appearances in the regular season, Kitts, who came off the bench, had her career high in points after playing limited minutes in last year’s NCAA tournament. Fulwiley put on her show in the first half, scoring four of her career-high five 3-pointers.

“We knew coming in we were going to go eight deep,” Paopao said. “Whatever five is out there has to compete, fight and play with heart.”

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Seven players have led at least one game in scoring, All season, players from Cardoso to Kitts to freshman guard Tessa Johnson have stepped up in games to help maintain the undefeated record.

“We just talked about playing our game,” Paopao said. “We missed key pieces in Bree and Kamilla, but we just gotta play our game and be who we are. Being who we are got us the win.”

Evan Gerike covers South Carolina women's basketball for the Greenville News. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike.