The fans were in line well before doors opened.
Third-ranked South Carolina was in town to take on FGCU, the biggest and highest-ranked basketball opponent to come to Alico Arena in the school’s history.
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That anticipation built, and the 3,527 in attendance got to watch the Gamecocks play their brand of basketball in a 105-43 win over the host Eagles.
“We’re getting better,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “We’re starting to gel on both sides of the ball. We’ve gotten pretty good practices in, which allows us to do that. Now that we’re in between semesters, we can really get some work done… We just needed time, and hopefully we can continue to stay connected defensively, share the ball offensively, and everybody can be happy.”
The Eagles took advantage of South Carolina playing a bit careless early, initiating turnovers on the first two Gamecock possessions. The zone defense led to Sinai Douglas opening the scoring with a 3-pointer, before sinking another off turnover to take an early 6-2 lead. In total, FGCU led for just under five minutes of action.
“That first quarter, we followed the game plan to a T,” FGCU coach Raina Harmon said. “We were hitting open 3s. I thought our gameplan defensively early on forced them into making adjustments. I was really excited with how we stuck to the plan.
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“I talked about having some goals even down the stretch, no matter what the score was. I wanted to test them. I drew up a couple of plays during some timeouts, and they came out and executed. Now, whether the ball went in or it didn’t, we had some good, wide open looks.”
Once South Carolina settled in, there was no looking back. The Gamecocks initiated a 13-0 run thanks in part to a Tessa Johnson triple and a putback from Joyce Edwards, ending the first quarter on a 19-2 run to take a 24-11 lead.
Edwards finished with a game-high 29 points on 14 of 19 shooting from the field. Madina Okot added 27 points and 12 rebounds for SC, punishing FGCU inside. In total, the Gamecocks had 74 points in the paint.
“She’s a layup maker,” Staley said of Edwards. “If you make layups, your overall average will skyrocket if you just make layups. That’s the small ones to the juniors to the high schoolers, to the collegiates, to the professionals. She’s a layup maker, very, very efficient, great pivoting around the basket, great uses of her body.
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“She’s strong and works hard. It just doesn’t happen on gameday. She works at it. When you work at something, she’s the type that wants to see her work pay off in moments like gameday.”
Out of the second half, it took FGCU nearly four minutes to score, as Douglas nailed a trey at the 6:23 mark to get back in the scoring column. But at that point, South Carolina was up 63-24 in complete command, before the lead ballooned to 62 points before going final.
For FGCU, Douglas led the way with 14 points, while Cerina Rolle added 10. Ta’Niya Latson scored 15 points for South Carolina, while Maryam Dauda added 12 off the bench.
As the game concluded, fans trickled down from their seats to get a closer look at Staley, who won three Olympic gold medals competing for Team USA. The South Carolina coach signed autographs, took countless selfies, and spent time interacting with fans for well over 10 minutes after the game concluded.
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“I think it just speaks volumes,” Harmon said. “I mean, you saw the crowd. It was a record. It just means so much to have the No. 3 ranked team and a team that’s a perennial powerhouse team to be able to come into our home gym. I think it just means the most and I’m super blessed that Coach Staley granted us that opportunity.
“… I’ve idolized her my entire journey, from a player, to a coach even until now. I think it’s just really cool to take the same stage as her now as a head coach. It just means a lot to me, and to know that I can lean on her, should I need to means a lot for me in this profession.”
Staley and Harmon shared a moment in the postgame handshake line, with Staley offering words of support to Harmon and letting her know that she’s in her corner moving forward. Staley might’ve been a first-year head coach 25 years ago, but plenty of coaches in the industry, Harmon included, look up to her.
“I told her after the game, I’m here to help,” Staley said. “There’s a lot of young women that are head coaches, first-year head coaches, first time head coaches. It’s difficult moving 12 inches over. When you’re an assistant and you move 12 inches over, a lot comes at you. You’re really not prepared until you go through it. You can have the best teacher and mentor, but until you actually have to take on all the responsibilities of making decisions…
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“I’m in my 26th year. I don’t have to do that anymore. We’re just so connected that there’s certain things that I don’t have to worry about. She has to worry about every single thing. She’s got to build a good staff, she’s got to build as a first-time head coach. There’ll be frustrating days. It’s normal. I still have frustrating days. It’s how you handle them. I think it’s really important how you handle them. I think it’s really important that her assistant coaches are really loyal, and take some of that stuff off her plate, and be reliable.”
Follow Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: South Carolina dominates FGCU in front of record crowd at Alico Arena
