Emergence Of MiLaysia Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson Part Of Youth Movement In Women's College Basketball

Andrew Lyon | Mar 27, 2024

Mar 24, 2024; Columbia, SC, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (12) drives around a North Carolina defender in the Round of 32 in the NCAA Tournament / Jeff Blake-USA TODAY Sports

They might not quite be on the same level as 'the freshies' that South Carolina women's basketball fans saw take the floor back in the 2019-20 season, but the Gamecocks true freshman class in MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson are beginning to see an uptick in their performance at the time where the magnitude of the games call for it. In each of Carolina's last five games, all either conference or NCAA Tournament games, at least one of the two freshmen reached double figures in points scored, and on four different occasions, either Fulwiley or Johnson was registered a team-high, tied for the team-high or had the second-highest point total scoring-wise.

Their recent success is part of a wide-ranging movement in women’s college basketball, as while stars like Kamilla Cardoso, Caitlin Clark, and others are set to move onto the WNBA, the next wave of stars are wasting no time leaving their mark as referenced by head coach Dawn Staley in her postgame press conference after her team’s win over North Carolina on Sunday.

"I think it's a theme of women's basketball at this point where you got a lot of young players who are coming in and making an impact. I mean, they grew up watching the NCAA Tournament. They grew up watching the WNBA. So, to get their opportunity to play on a big stage, they've prepared themselves for it, and it's the right situation," Staley expressed. "All the freshmen that are in the national spotlight, they picked good situations in which they could shine, and although this is a different kind of shine for MiLaysia and Tessa, even Chloe [Kitts], they see themselves as being integral parts of our success, and they didn't back down from [the moment]. They didn't look like this in June; they built up to it," Dawn recalled. "They don't have to be receptive as well, but I think just the whole group allows them to just play their game and be held accountable for not playing their game, so I think it's a cool dynamic to our team."

Fulwiley is the Gamecocks' leading scorer in their ongoing NCAA Tournament run, averaging 18.5 points on 53.8 percent shooting from the floor and 52.9 percent shooting from three-point range.

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