Yes, That Good; S. Carolina up to #5 All-Time After 84-55 Win Over Auburn 2009

The thing I like about playing Value Add Basketball Games is that in a 30 minute game you really grasp the strength and weaknesses of each team because the cards reflect just about everything a player did to help their team adjusted for level of competition and era.

And yes, this South Carolina women's team that just won the title is one of the best ever. What struck me is that they really do have NINE dominant players. In fact, I played around with the line-up a little and put Raven Johnson in the game at the outset (technically reserves play their possessions FIRST in our games) and had MiLaysia Fulwiley in the "starting" line-up at the end of the game. I will switch it back on the team sheet so Johnson is the starter if you go by how I have them laid out - but it worked well.

Johnson stole the ball on Auburn's 2nd and 3rd possession (43rd and 42nd left to play in the game counting down on the sheet) to lead to a quick 24-20 lead. She kept it up at the beginning of the third quarter, stealing the ball at the "33 possessions left" mark and passing ahead to Te-Hina Paopao, who sunk a 3-pointer on the break to make it 37-22 South Carolina.

Kamilla Cardoso dominated inside with 20 points and 10 rebounds to lead an incredible 44-23 rebounding edge with nine South Carolina players getting at least three rebounds. Only DeWanna Bonner (6 rebounds) and Alli Smalley (3 rebounds) hit that mark for Auburn. Those were also the only two Auburn players who got some offense going, as sharp-shooter Smalley hit a couple of 3-pointers and Bonner worked inside as both finished with 12 points and Whitney Boddie added 10.

South Carolina's 84-55 blowout win was much larger than the 18-point margin their ratings would project, and while Auburn is the 56th ranked team in our game, the margin was still impressive enough to move South Carolina from 7th all-time up to 5th all-time in our rankings (see updated top 25 all-time below the box score of the game. We track all results and update rankings on this google sheet. 

Dawn Staley's win as coach in this game occurs before her debut in the game as a player for the University of Virginia 18th all-time ranked team in our game. The only top 16 yet to play in our game is the 4th UConn team in the game - the 1995 squad led by Nykesha Sales, Rebecca Lobo - which debut at No. 7 all-time. They will play the other University of Virginia team - the 2018 squad led by Dominique Toussaint.

The preview of this game was posted here, with more of a focus on Auburn since fans are more familiar with the season just ended.

 

Pos	Auburn 2009	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Act. Season
1-PG	Whitney Boddie	10	0	5	0	0	1	1	0	1	5'9,11.0 Pts
2-SG	Alli Smalley	12	2	3	0	0	3	2	0	2	5'9,7.6 Pts
3-SF	Sherell Hobbs	7	0	2	3	4	5	1	1	1	5'7,7.3 Pts
4-PF	Trevesha Jackson	4	0	2	0	0	2	0	0	1	5'10,7.2 Pts
5-C	DeWanna Bonner	12	0	5	2	2	6	0	3	2	6'2, 12.7 Pts
Pos	Visitor Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Act Season
1-PG	Morgan Jennings	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'8,2.3 Pts
2-SG	Reneisha Hobbs	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'11,2.5 Pts
3-SF	Parrisha Simmons	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	5'9,5.3 Pts
4-PF	Chantel Hilliard	2	0	1	0	0	2	0	0	1	6'2, 3.2 Pts
5-C	KeKe Carrier	2	0	1	0	0	1	1	0	1	6'3, 7.2 Pts
	14 Turnovers	55	2	22	5	6	23	5	4	12
Pos	South Carolina 2024	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Act Season
1-PG	Te-Hina Paopao	7	1	2	0	0	2	1	1	1	5'9,10.9 Pts
2-SG	MiLaysia Fulwiley	12	2	2	2	2	1	1	1	1	5'10,11.9 Pts
3-SF	Bree Hall	11	1	4	0	0	4	0	0	2	6'0, 9.5 Pts
4-PF	Ashlyn Watkins	2	0	1	0	0	8	0	2	2	6'3,9.4 Pts
5-C	Kamilla Cardoso	20	0	9	2	2	10	1	1	2	6'7,14.1 Pts
Pos	Home Bench	Pts	3pt	2pt	FT	Att	Reb	Stl	Blk	Fl	Act Season
1-PG	Tessa Johnson	4	0	2	0	0	3	0	0	1	6'1,6.2 Pts
2-SG	Chloe Kitts	8	0	4	0	0	4	0	0	1	6'2,9.3 Pts
3-SF	Sania Feagin	8	0	4	0	0	7	0	0	1	6'3,6.7 Pts
4-PF	Raven Johnson	10	0	5	0	0	4	3	0	1	5'8,8.1 Pts
5-C	Sakima Walker	2	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	6'4,2.0 Pts
	15 Turnovers	84	4	34	4	4	44	6	5	13

Updated All-Time Top 25 after S. Carolina Win

 

Rnk	Team	year	W	L	Score	Allow	Rate	Player(s)
1	Tennessee	1998	4	0	76.3	64.0	18.4	Tamika Catchings, C Holdsclaw
2	Connecticut	2002	1	0	75.0	46.0	15.5	Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi
3	Tennessee	2007	1	0	89.0	70.0	14.7	Candace Parker
4	Louisiana Tech	1982	3	1	76.0	67.5	12.4	Pam Kelly
5	South Carolina	2024	1	0	84.0	55.0	12.0	Kamilla Cardoso
6	Connecticut	2016	1	1	80.0	64.5	10.8	Maya Moore
7	Connecticut	1995					10.0	Nykesha Sales, Rebecca Lobo
8	Notre Dame	2018	3	1	76.3	72.8	9.9	Arike Ogunbowales
9	Connecticut	2010	2	1	73.3	73.3	9.3	Breanna Stewart
10	USC	1983	2	1	72.0	63.3	9.2	Cheryl Miller
11	Stanford	2021	1	1	79.0	72.5	8.2	Kiana Williams
12	Baylor	2012	1	1	73.5	77.0	6.2	Kalani Brown
13	Iowa	2024	1	0	84.0	64.0	5.8	Caitlin Clark
14	Baylor	2019	1	1	74.0	73.0	3.6	Brittney Griner
15	Oregon	2019	0	1	81.0	84.0	3.5	Sabrina Ionescu
16	Texas A&M	2011	0	1	69.0	76.0	2.8	Danielle Adams
17	Notre Dame	2001					2.0	Ruth Riley
18	Virginia	1991					2.0	Dawn Staley
19	Mississippi State	2018	0	1	58.0	74.0	1.3	Victoria Vivans
20	LSU	2023					1.0	Angel Reese
21	Maryland	2006					1.0	Crystal Langhorne
22	Ohio State	1993					1.0	Katie Smith
23	Old Dominion	1980	0	1	55.0	80.0	0.5	Nancy Lieberman
24	South Carolina	2017	1	1	69.0	73.5	0.0	A'ja Wilson
25	Duke	2006	0	1	66.0	75.0	-0.3	Alison Bales