After holding off the No. 8 Duke Blue Devils at home on Thursday as part of the SEC/ACC Challenge, the No. 3 South Carolina Gamecocks are off to Texas to meet another top-10 opponent. The No. 9 TCU Horned Frogs await in Forth Worth for the US LBM Coast to Coast Challenge Hoopfest Women’s Basketball Classic (7 p.m. ET, ESPN2).
It’s a mouthful, but the hoops should be delightful.
Last time they played a top-10 ranked team with a 6-foot-7 center, it seemed like South Carolina missed being the team with the 6-foot-7 center. Now-No. 1 UCLA and junior center Lauren Betts made the Gamecocks, their fans and observers even more appreciative of the value of Kamilla Cardoso. She not only was the “separator” for last season’s national champs because of what she could do, or could prevent, in actions on both ends of the floor, but also because the threat posed by her mere presence occupied the intense attention of opponents, which then made things easier on her teammates, whether that be by covering up for their miscues on defense or cleaning up an ill-advised shot with a putback basket on offense. South Carolina has struggled to carve out a consistent, Cardoso-less identity this season, with the loss to UCLA serving as the most glaring example.
Sunday night, when they…
