Playing defending national champion South Carolina was already difficult enough. But how the Gamecocks have responded to their toughest loss of this season makes them even more formidable.
We’re not talking about their lone loss, at UCLA on Nov. 24, but rather, the loss of junior forward Ashlyn Watkins to a season-ending knee injury suffered Jan. 5. Watkins averaged 7.2 points, 6.1 rebounds and a team-high 1.9 blocks in the 14 games she played.
Since then, the Gamecocks have won four in a row, three against ranked opponents. They punished Texas (67-50) and Oklahoma (101-60), two top-10 teams. And in dismantling the Sooners on Jan. 19, South Carolina reached the century mark for the first time this season and likely played its best overall game of 2024-25.
South Carolina remains No. 2 in ESPN’s Women’s College Basketball Power Rankings and looks strong heading into what could be two of its toughest tests in the SEC. South Carolina hosts LSU on Thursday (ESPN, 8 p.m. ET) and then travels to Tennessee on Monday (ESPN2, 7 p.m. ET).
Coach Dawn Staley…
