Three observations from South Carolina WBB’s 43-point exhibition win over Memphis

South Carolina women’s basketball defeated Memphis 106-63 at the FedExForum on Tuesday night in a preseason exhibition benefiting St. Jude Children’s Hospital.

Freshman Joyce Edwards and junior Chloe Kitts led the way for USC, each notching double-doubles in the victory — Edwards ended the night with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds, while Kitts scored 15 points and snagged a team-high 13 boards.

Preseason All-SEC second-team sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley went down with an apparent right ankle injury late in the third quarter. She remained on the bench afterward and was shown on the ESPN+ broadcast standing and walking around in the huddle during timeouts. After the game, coach Dawn Staley said Fulwiley was OK, adding “ I think she twisted her ankle a little bit.”

Here are three observations from the win:

Joyce Edwards, Chloe Kitts star in the post

Edwards, the No. 2 overall recruit in ESPN’s Class of 2024 rankings, made her Gamecock debut Tuesday night. Edwards immediately made an impact, scoring a layup on her first offensive possession of the game. The star freshman played 11 first-half minutes, securing a double-double (10 points on 4-of-8 shooting and 10 rebounds) by intermission.

Gamecock great Aliyah Boston shouted out Edwards’ performance on X (formerly Twitter).

“Joyce is going to be a problem!” Boston wrote.

Kitts, whom coach Dawn Staley touted Monday as being in “midseason form,” looked it in Tuesday night’s game. Kitts flirted with a double-double in the first half as well, eventually securing one in the third quarter. One of her most impressive moments of the first half came in its final seconds.

Point guard Raven Johnson tossed a pass to Kitts in the post, where two Memphis defenders collapsed to meet her. Kitts missed her first attempt, snagged the rebound and made the second attempt through contact for the and-one. The ESPN+ broadcast team called it a “weight room bucket.”

Kitts posted the best plus/minus of any Gamecock in the first half with plus-18. She ended the game plus-36 (second on the team behind point guard Raven Johnson with plus-41).

Efficient offense

Sloppy passes, errant turnovers and other silly mistakes are bound to happen in an Oct. 15 exhibition game, especially with a team looking to integrate some new faces into its well-established system.

But South Carolina looked pretty sharp Tuesday night.

The Gamecocks’ offense was very efficient in the first half. USC shot 51.2% (22-of-43) from the field and 37.5% (3-of-8) from 3-point range. Two of those 3s came from Paopao (who sank both her attempts), and one came from 6-foot-4 forward Maryam Dauda, who demonstrated her ability to stretch the floor early and provided a quick glimpse into the “different dimension” Staley said she brings to the team.

USC ended the game shooting 52.6% from the field (41-of-78) and dipped down to 27.3% (3-of-11) from 3. The Gamecocks eclipsed 100 points in the final period, a mark they met six times during the 2023-24 regular season.

Tracking substitutions, lineups

When previewing the exhibition on Monday, Staley talked about viewing the game as an opportunity to test out different lineups. South Carolina’s most productive lineups of the first half bookended the action.

The starters — Johnson (G), Te-Hina Paopao (G), Bree Hall (G), Chloe Kitts (F) and Sania Feagin (F) — jumped out to a 10-2 lead after Memphis scored the first bucket of the game.

Paopao, Tessa Johnson, Raven Johnson, Edwards and Kitts played the final minute and 47 seconds of the half together. Just after Paopao checked in for Fulwiley, Memphis cut South Carolina’s lead down to 10 (the Gamecocks’ smallest lead of the quarter was eight a couple minutes earlier). Layups by Paopao, Raven Johnson, Edwards and Kitts stretched USC’s lead to 18 (50-32) by halftime.

Next South Carolina women’s basketball game

Who: South Carolina vs. Clayton State (exhibition)

When: 7 p.m. Oct. 28

Where: Colonial Life Arena

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