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NCAAW: South Carolina, LSU soar as Tennessee struggles in SEC

NCAAW: South Carolina, LSU soar as Tennessee struggles in SEC

For our inaugural SEC update of the 2022-23 season, let’s check in on the conference’s consensus top three, and only nationally-ranked, teams: the No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks (3-0), No. 11 Tennessee Lady Vols (1-2) and No. 15 LSU Lady Tigers (4-0).

Despite Gamecocks’ depth and dominance, weaknesses worth watching emerge

Yes, we must start with the slam!

Freshman Ashlyn Watkins capped off South Carolina’s 85-31 evisceration of in-state rival Clemson with the first dunk in program history. The winner of the 2022 McDonald’s All-American dunk contest turned a Tiger turnover into an authoritative one-handed flush.

Watkins did more than dunk, scoring 14 points in 16 minutes off the bench while also notching five boards, three steals, a pair of blocks and an assist. The talent that oozes out of the Columbia native epitomizes why Dawn Staley suggested, “I think this team could be better than last year’s team.”

Although possessing a more impressive accumulation of talent, it is worth asking if South Carolina is, in fact, a better, optimally-balanced team. Yes, after their dominating start to the season, it seems odd to ask this question.

However, the performances still exposed some potential points of concern. Namely, South Carolina seems to miss the dynamism of Destanni Henderson. A blur with the ball in her hands, the former point guard was a one-woman fast break, able to generate easy, momentum-swinging buckets in transition. Critically, she also was the squad’s best 3-point shooter.

Staley has expressed confidence in her point guard pairing of redshirt freshman Raven Johnson and graduate student transfer Kierra Fletcher, both of whom are returning from injuries and thus have been limited in the early going. Although lacking Henderson’s speed, both possess good size that should allow them to see the court better and, most importantly, get the ball to Aliyah Boston on the block. However, neither is a particularly threatening 3-point shooter.

While South Carolina drained their first five 3-pointers against Clemson before finishing 7-of-12 from deep, Maryland packed the paint against South Carolina, prioritizing preventing the Gamecocks from getting the ball to Boston and instead allowing often-reluctant perimeter players to take open threes. The Gamecocks made only eight of their 28 attempts from deep against the Terrapins.

Of course, as they showed after a late-third quarter scuffle, South Carolina’s top gear can render any…

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