Tag: south carolina women’s basketball

A referee’s instant reaction to the LSU-South Carolina on-court melee has become a meme

The stare. The arms. Perfection.

The South Carolina-LSU SEC Championship game has been all over social media after an on-court scuffle derailed the matchup for nearly 20 minutes. While the TV broadcast awaited the official ruling, fans caught one referee who seemingly decided that the moment was likely too much. The ref’s direct stare into nearby cameras has become a meme.

South Carolina and LSU’s SEC Championship matchup had all the fireworks. There were touch matchups, back-and-forth buckets, and even a huge on-court skirmish that took nearly 20 minutes to sort out. While fans at home were watching and waiting for referees to decide which players would receive penalties and ejections, they noticed something different in the replays.

A referee on the court seemingly decided that the scuffle was too much to deal with at that moment. The ref looked right into a camera, gave a stare, and walked out of the frame as if to say, “NOPE. Not today.” That moment has turned into a meme on social media, and it’s glorious.

Here are some of the best uses of the clip:

Here’s some more:

Dawn Staley used an elaborately amusing education metaphor to reflect on South Carolina’s undefeated season

Dawn Staley, everybody!

During the regular season, the South Carolina women’s basketball team was undefeated — AGAIN — and not enough people are talking about it.

When the 2023-2024 women’s basketball season started, South Carolina beat Notre Dame with five brand new starters after losing their previous starting lineup to the WNBA following a 36-1 season. That was amazing, but what is absolutely mind-bending is that South Carolina hasn’t missed a beat since.

They won the SEC this season and finished a perfect 29-0, the only team to go undefeated in Division I men’s or women’s basketball. Let’s be honest: Dawn Staley is putting on a masterclass in coaching. Yet, she attributes South Carolina’s success to letting her team be themselves.

South Carolina women’s basketball created a ‘That’s So Raven’-themed highlight reel for Raven Johnson and it’s so good

This is PERFECTION.

South Carolina women’s basketball sophomore guard Raven Johnson is a walking highlight reel. So, it’s incredibly fitting that the South Carolina social media team made a highlight package for her using the That’s So Raven theme song.

Since her infamous moment during the 2023 Final Four, where she was waved off by Caitlin Clark, Raven Johnson has been in full revenge season mode. The basketball world has noticed, including A’ja Wilson, who says that the moment woke Johnson up.

This season, Johnson is oozing confidence and swagger, blowing by opponents with ease. She’s also part of the reason South Carolina is still undefeated, and the Gamecocks’ social media team created an epically themed highlight reel package for Johnson to celebrate her growth.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C3Q0rCsLS74/?igsh=ZXJnMjJ1ZzF5dDVr

South Carolina and Ole Miss players classily helped a player with an on-court wig accident

The South Carolina and Ole Miss women’s basketball teams deserve credit for understanding the moment.

Basketball is such a fast-paced, physical sport that often things happen in the blink of an eye, including unexpected mishaps. That happened during Sunday’s game between South Carolina and Ole Miss when a player’s wig accidentally came off mid-game. Amazingly, neither team missed a beat. They sprang into action to help their fellow peer.

It can be embarrassing and gutwrenching to watch injuries or accidents change the course of a game. (Remember when ESPN brutally showed Chelsea Gray’s injury during the 2023 WNBA Finals?)

During those moments, it’s not as common to see a player get time to gather themselves or get unanimous support from other athletes. But, when an Ole Miss women’s basketball player collided with a player from South Carolina — resulting in a wig coming off — players from both teams jumped in to help.

The best part of the sequence is seeing the players from each team gather to shield the impacted player so that they could put their wig back on properly and not feel overwhelmed.

Women’s hoops fans noticed their incredibly kind gesture and loved it.

South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins had the most casual response to her record-tying dunk against Kentucky

Ashlyn Watkins’ nonchalant response about her historic dunk is perfectly on-brand.

Dunking in women’s basketball is not new, but when you’re South Carolina Gamecocks forward Ashlyn Watkins, your dunks are a bit more special.

Despite losing all five starters from last season, South Carolina is the only remaining undefeated team in Division I college basketball. Their win streak can be attributed to phenomenal coaching from head coach Dawn Staley and spectacular talent that commands a court. Staley’s roster includes freshman star Milaysia Fulwiley, guard Raven Johnson, and the quiet-but-fierce Ashlyn Watkins.

On Monday, during South Carolina’s 50th-straight home win and a visit from Vice President Kamala Harris, Watkins picked the pocket of an unsuspecting Kentucky player and promptly dunked it on the other end, sending the crowd into a frenzy.

What makes Watkins’ dunk so special is that she is now tied with former Tennessee and WNBA star Michelle Snow and former Stanford forward Fran Belibi for the second-most dunks by a woman in NCAA history.

But, if you ask Ashlyn, whose first college dunks came last season, she’s not new to this. She’s true to this.

Dawn Staley took a chance benching star freshman Milaysia Fulwiley, but it worked

There’s a reason why Dawn Staley is one of the best coaches in women’s college basketball.

Milaysia Fulwiley is a dynamic player who has made her impact felt from day one. However, being offensively sound doesn’t mean you’re immune to learning when you can improve. That’s why Dawn Staley benching Fulwiley earlier this season is now paying dividends for the South Carolina Gamecocks, just as Staley predicted.

Milaysia Fulwiley has been dropping buckets and breaking ankles since her collegiate debut. Her sick moves had an entire arena (and even celebrities) captivated. But being able to score at will isn’t enough for head coach Dawn Staley’s standards. Her players must also defend at a high level.

It’s why, despite being a starter, Fulwiley was benched in November during a game against UNC for a lack of attention to detail and subpar defense.

Staley predicted in early December that Fulwiley’s benching would help her in the long run, and now, Fulwiley is admitting that it did.

Per Kari Anderson of The Messenger, Fulwiley was entirely on board with the benching after she had time to reflect:

“My defense wasn’t up to par so I sat out a game and I watched my team fight for a win and they won,” Fulwiley said. “At first I was confused because I was actually doing good in practice, but then, when she (Coach Staley) broke it down for me, I came to the realization like, ‘You’re right, I don’t do that as well on defense.'”

“If you have a big ego, you’re just not gonna work here. You’re just not going to fit in because everyone is just all in for each other,” she said.

Only 13 college basketball teams are still undefeated, including Houston and South Carolina

Here’s an up-to-date-list of the 13 remaining undefeated teams in Division I college hoops.

College basketball isn’t even eight weeks into the season, but chaos happens daily. Somehow, several teams have survived the madness, including Dawn Staley’s young South Carolina team and the Houston Cougars — yes, THE HOUSTON COUGARS.

Upets, court stormings and huge shots have defined a wild college basketball season. There are some impressive talents on the men’s side (hello, Zach Edey, Caleb Love and Kyle Filipowski) and even more gritty players on the women’s side (like this year’s freshmen class) tearing up the courts. Yet, the most impressive thing has been the resiliency of the undefeated teams.

For context, on the women’s side, Uconn completed their perfect season during a 2015-2016 run, and the only team to come close since that moment is South Carolina, who fell to Caitlin Clark and Iowa earlier this year. Men’s basketball hasn’t seen a perfect season since the 1975-1976 season when Indiana went 32-0.

If you’re wondering what teams are still defeated in Division I hoops, here is the list as of December 24, 2023:

Undefeated Men’s College Basketball Teams

  1. No. 3 Houston (12-0): Next game is Penn on Saturday, Dec. 30
  2. No. 20 James Madison (12-0): Next game is Texas State on Saturday, Dec. 30
  3. No. 25 Ole Miss (12-0): Next game is Bryant on Sunday, Dec. 31


Undefeated Women’s College Basketball Teams

  1. No. 1 South Carolina (11-0): Next game is at East Carolina on Saturday, Dec. 30
  2. No. 2 UCLA (11-0): Next game is USC on Saturday, Dec. 30
  3. No. 3 NC State (12-0): Next game is at Virginia on Sunday, Dec. 31
  4. No. 5 Texas (12-0): Next game is Jackson State on Wednesday, Dec. 27
  5. No. 6 USC (10-0): Next game is at UCLA on Saturday, Dec. 30
  6. No. 10 Baylor (11-0): Next game is at Texas on Saturday, Dec. 30
  7. No. 18 Marquette (12-0): Next game is at UConn on Sunday, Dec. 31
  8. No. 25 TCU (13-0): Next game is BYU on Saturday, Dec. 30
  9. Oregon State (10-0): Next game is Morgan State on Thursday, Dec. 28
  10. West Virginia (11-0): Next game is at Kansas on Saturday, Dec. 30

A’ja Wilson thinks Caitlin Clark’s wave-off in the Final Four may have enhanced Raven Johnson’s game

A’ja Wilson thinks Caitlin Clark may have added extra fuel to Raven Johnson’s game.

WNBA superstar A’ja Wilson is a huge fan of South Carolina point guard Raven Johnson’s current game, and she thinks Caitlin Clark may have something to do with that.

A’ja Wilson is one of the best players in the WNBA. The two-time champion and Defensive Player of the Year is a force to be reckoned with. She also has spoken openly about the ways in which South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has sown into her and how Staley was a crucial part of her journey to become the player she is now.

When she recently joined the All The Smoke podcast for an episode, Wilson was asked what collegiate women’s basketball player she thinks has a bright future. Admitting her bias, she picked one of Staley’s current players, Raven Johnson.

Wilson believes that last season’s Final Four matchup, which had many talking about Johson’s infamous wave-off moment with Caitlin Clark, woke her up. ( See the 36:31 mark of the video.)

(Warning: NSFW language.)

Plies posts wholesome celebration video after Dawn Staley accepted rapper’s invite to a January concert

Find you somebody who gets as excited about you as Plies does about Dawn Staley.

Plies and Dawn Staley is one of the most unlikely duos in sports, but it magically works.

Dawn Staley is a legend in her own right. Staley is a 2013 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, a three-time Olympic gold medalist and a six-time WNBA All-Star. She also coaches the hottest team in women’s basketball, the South Carolina Gamecocks.

Honestly, she’s a beloved figure in South Carolina for her dedication to her athletes and the community. Her supporters flock to her infectious energy and appreciate her gentle yet firm coaching style.

So, it’s not exactly shocking that hoops fans across the sports landscape would be in awe of her, including Grammy-nominated rapper Plies, who recently invited Staley to a January 2024 music event.

She saw his gesture and accepted the invite. That decision netted a response from the rapper, which is perfection.

Plies’ reaction was so incredibly precious that Staley couldn’t help but share the excitement.

You love to see it.

UNC Women’s Basketball vs. South Carolina: Game preview, info, prediction and more

The UNC women’s basketball program is hosting top-ranked South Carolina on Thursday, Nov. 30 as part of the ACC-SEC Challenge.

When a college basketball game features the University of North Carolina, it’s typically the Tar Heels who sport a top-ranked team.

In the case on Thursday, Nov. 30, it’s the exact opposite.

While the UNC women are enjoying a solid start to their 2023-2024 campaign, sitting at 5-2 and ranked 24th in the latest AP Poll, their next opponent is perhaps the greatest in women’s college basketball.

You guessed it – South Carolina.

The Gamecocks, who sport the game’s best coach (Dawn Staley) and arguably most talented roster, will find themselves at Carmichael Arena on Thursday night as part of the newly-developed, ACC-SEC Challenge.

This game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN.

South Carolina, the 2017 and 2022 National Championships who our friends down south claim is the “real” Carolina, currently sits at 5-0. The Gamecocks have already beaten two ranked teams (18th-ranked Notre Dame, formerly 14th-ranked Maryland), plus they obliterated Mississippi Valley State on Thanksgiving Friday, 101-19.

The Tar Heels are facing a bit of heartbreak and a mini cold stretch, losing their past two to Kansas State and Florida Gulf Coast. They are led by returners Deja Kella and Alyssa Ustby, two of the best at their respective positions, plus they sport a few solid transfers in Maria Gakdeng, Lexi Donarski and Indya Nivar.

While South Carolina is expected to win big, any rivalry game brings out the best in both teams. What can the real Carolina do in hopes of pulling off an upset?