COLUMBIA — A layup from MiLaysia Fulwiley resulted in an ear-piercing uproar.
The sold-out crowd of 18,000 at Colonial Life Arena on Sunday was more than ready to set the tone against No. 7 UConn, but South Carolina women’s basketball wasn’t.
An 8-0 run fueled a 15-point lead by the Huskies early in the second quarter but then Fulwiley made a layup through traffic to cut it to 10 with 5:11 left until halftime, forcing UConn coach Geno Auriemma to call timeout.
That was what the No. 4 Gamecocks needed to take back control. The fans were the loudest all season but it was an opportunity South Carolina never took advantage of.
When the Huskies (24-3, 14-0 Big East) came out of the timeout, they remained the more discipline team. Another 8-0 run exposed a vapid, gritless performance from South Carolina (23-3, 11-1 SEC) which fueled a 87-58 loss and ended a 71-game home winning streak.
“You can pull out different stats and they’re all going to end the same way,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “We did not perform well in any area.”
Putting all 40 minutes under a microscope, focus can’t stray too far to one side. Uncharacteristically, South Carolina lacked on both ends, as more went wrong than right. A team who can sometime produce up to five double-digit scorers didn’t have many players who looked to score for most of the game.
Through the opening quarter, UConn hit three 3-pointers and had pristine ball movement that resulted in points from six different players. South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao made two 3-pointers in the first quarter, but only three Gamecocks scored in the 10-minute span.
“I felt like we didn’t have much ball movement going on,” Paopao said. “It was a lot of ball screens and not much movement on the weak side or strong side. We have to do a better job recognizing that early and getting everyone else involved.”
UConn’s defensive plan dismantled South Carolina’s offense, forcing the Gamecocks into poor shots. After Paopao’s hot start, it was a harsh decline with 3-point shooting, finishing 3-of-17.
UConn hit shots and if it didn’t, it was the first in the air for the rebound or first to dive on the ball. For South Carolina, a missed shot wasn’t always followed, finishing with just six second-chance points compared to the Huskies’ 11.
“It’s very much embarrassing,” Paopao said of the loss, calling the defensive performance trash. “It’s not who we are … we have to do a better job giving effort and being mentally and physically tough.”
UConn grabbed 31 rebounds on defense and in transition scored 31 fast-break points. South Carolina’s defense allowed the Huskies to make freely make passes and take shots they wanted, finishing with 22 assists on 31 made baskets.
EFFORT: Dawn Staley grades South Carolina’s effort an ‘F,’ calls loss to UConn ’embarrassing’
Azzi Fudd, who hit eight 3-pointers on Wednesday against St. John’s, scored 18 of 28 points in the third, a career high for points in a quarter for her. She made four wide open 3-point shots and finished 6-for-10 from behind the arc. Despite knowing Fudd has one of the quickest releases and most accurate 3-point shots in the nation, she was left alone on way too many occasions.
“They hit 13 threes, that’s damaging to your defense from a physical and physiological standpoint,” Staley said. “They had their way with us.”
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: South Carolina women’s basketball lifeless on offense, defense vs UConn
