A Look Back At South Carolina's Exhibition Win Over Rutgers and Honoring Nikki McCray-Penson

South Carolina's women's basketball team defeated Rutgers in an exhibition game last Sunday, all while honoring the late Nikki McCray-Penson.

If you tuned into Sunday's exhibition game versus Rutgers, you noticed a gameday-esque vibe, which is a direction Coach Dawn Staley is geared towards moving forward. The two respected schools were allowed to play via a waiver granted by the NCAA to honor the late Nikki McCray-Penson, who was an assistant coach on both teams and passed away this summer.

Nikki coached at South Carolina for Staley's first nine seasons (2008-09 through 2016-17) and was part of the program's 2017 National Championship coaching staff. After a head coaching stint at multiple schools and her second battle with breast cancer, McCray-Penson returned to the assistant coaching chair with Rutgers University in 2022.

As far as the exhibition was concerned, Staley's squad won in dominant fashion by a score of 110-55. They began the game at an imposing rate, jumping out to a 21-0 run, and the rest was history. The guard-oriented team looked uncanny to the usual style we're used to seeing from a Staley-led squad, but I'm sure you enjoyed seeing an uptick in three-point jumpers.

On average, last year's squad made 4.4 three-pointers per game, but in the scrimmage against Rutgers on Sunday, the Gamecocks made ten of their 27 three-point attempts, good enough for a 37 percent three-point shooting percentage. Freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley led the team in made three-pointers with four and ended the game as the second leading scorer, with a final stat line of 16 points, five assists, and three steals.

Still representing the traditional tall lineups of the past for South Carolina, Kamilla Cardoso emerged as the team's leading scorer with 17 points, five rebounds, and one block. Coach Staley voiced her opinion to the media Sunday about Cardoso's performance.

"I thought we made her job easier, putting her in position to score quickly and not in a crowd," said Staley. "I do think on some offensive rebounds, she's playing on her heels rather than her toes. We have to get her playing on her toes. We also have to get her some mid-range shots - it's something that she practices all the time, so she's got to take them," she added. 

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