It’s been an incredible season for the South Carolina Gamecocks, who are now a perfect 25-0 (12-0 in SEC play) and are the unquestioned No. 1 team in NCAA Division I. No one has a larger average margin of victory, and according to Her Hoop Stats, South Carolina’s efficiency differential of 42.7 points per 100 possessions is even greater than that of last season’s team, which went 36-1 and sent five players to the 2023 WNBA Draft.
One of the holdovers from that team, center Kamilla Cardoso, has shone in a larger role that has seen her grow both as a player and a leader. Once one of the ACC’s up-and-coming young stars, Cardoso transferred from Syracuse to South Carolina in 2021, choosing to join a stacked frontcourt and a program that had just suffered an achingly close loss to Stanford in the NCAA Tournament Final Four.
Two seasons and one national championship later, Cardoso is once again in the limelight, starring for what has statistically been one of the greatest South Carolina teams in program history. The 6-foot-7 center from Montes Claros, Brazil has stepped into the Gamecocks’ starting lineup and has anchored them on both ends of the court, and her prowess on the offensive glass and protecting the rim has landed her on watch lists for national awards,…
