What makes South Carolina women’s basketball so tough to defend is that when the ball tips off and the starters take the floor, the Gamecocks’ two most dominant scorers are still sitting on the bench.
This season, the No. 6 Gamecocks (25-3, 13-1 SEC) have been led by freshman Joyce Edwards’s 13.2 points per game and sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley’s 11.6 points per game.
In the 82-54 win against Vanderbilt on Sunday in Nashville, Tennessee, it was no different.
Sunday marked the third consecutive game that Fulwiley and Edwards finished as the team’s leading scorers. Against the Commodores (19-9, 6-8), Fulwiley tied her career high with 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting. She had four rebounds, two steals, two 3-pointers and an assist Edwards finished with her third double-double of the season with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
“I just have a different type of love for Joyce,” Fulwiley said to SEC Network after the win. “She’s a go- getter. She just makes me so excited by the way she scores so easily. She hypes me up. She motivates me to be better. I appreciate her a lot. We played against each other for years, so just to finally play on her team, finally be her teammate, means a lot to me and I know it means a lot to our parents.”
Fulwiley noted the similarities between the duo in their respective journeys to South Carolina. Born nine months before Edwards, Fulwiley grew up just 10 miles from Colonial Life Arena in Columbia; Edwards grew up just about 40 minutes north in Camden. The two crossed paths long before they wore garnet and black.
Their relationship was on full display Sunday, as the two were bursts of energy on offense that matched the tone the starters set against the Commodores (19-9, 6-8). Edwards had nine offensive rebounds in the first half and Fulwiley was up to 15 points through two quarters.
With 2:38 to play in the second quarter, Edwards dove on the ground surrounded by Vanderbilt players; as she leaned back, she ripped the ball away enough to somehow find Fulwiley and sling a pass to her. Fulwiley cut around the left side and sped past defenders for a wide-open layup.
The forward-guard duo played a large part in the transition game, as South Carolina finished with 19 fastbreak points.
“Coach asked us what we were great at this week and I said transition (basketball) and scoring and I felt like I had to bring my A game,” Fulwiley said. “I kind of lacked confidence this season, but I feel like it came back at the right time. I just came out there like nobody was guarding me, and it showed.”
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Edwards’ 11 points in the third quarter kickstarted the run that Vanderbilt could never really stop. She was halfway down the court by the time Chloe Kitts or Sania Feagin grabbed the defensive rebound.
“Joyce is a difference-maker,” Staley said. “She is someone that coming off the bench with the offensive firepower that she brings, defensively she really understands what we want and then you add her competitiveness to it, she’s a really good player that we’re lucky to have. … I think she’s finding her spots in the game where she can truly be effective. Running the floor is one of them.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @Lulukesin
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Reserves MiLaysia Fulwiley, Joyce Edwards bond to lead South Carolina
