Dawn Staley had just won her eighth SEC tournament championship. Her South Carolina Gamecocks had capped off a second consecutive undefeated campaign in the lead-up to the NCAA Tournament. They had outmatched a conference rival Sunday in Greenville, S.C., outlasting LSU 79-72.
This should have been a moment for her entire team to enjoy together. Instead, she was surrounded by just six players still allowed to be on the Bon Secours Wellness Arena court for the game’s closing minutes. Most of the players who had led South Carolina through this remarkable season were in the locker room while the remaining handful took turns cutting down the nets.
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Staley called the scene bittersweet. Senior guard Te-Hina Paopao said the muted celebration was heartbreaking.
It was difficult for the Gamecocks to fully bask in this special moment after the mayhem that ensued with two minutes to play in the fourth quarter. The Gamecocks led by 7 points when LSU guard Flau’jae Johnson tugged at the jersey of South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley, slowing down her progress as she dribbled up the floor. Johnson then bumped into South Carolina’s Ashlyn Watkins. Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso sprinted over, shoving Johnson to the ground. Amid the chaos, a fan, identified on ESPN’s telecast as Johnson’s brother, left the stands and leaped over the scorer’s table and onto the court before police escorted him off the floor.
LSU and South Carolina players got into a scuffle in the fourth quarter of the SEC Championship. pic.twitter.com/rXw1tb1jWM
— ESPN (@espn) March 10, 2024
The chaos took around 20 minutes to sort out. The opponents were separated from one another, and every player from the teams’ sidelines was tossed for leaving their respective bench areas, except for South Carolina’s Sania Feagin, who did not leave the Gamecocks’ bench area, and Paopao, who was already at the scorer’s table to sub into the game. Cardoso was deservedly among those ejected.
Then play resumed and the Gamecocks held on. So, with the few players left on-court behind her rejoicing, Staley acknowledged the situation head-on.
“I just want to apologize to the basketball community,” she said on ESPN’s telecast. “You know when you’re playing a championship game like this in our league things get heated. No bad intentions. Their emotions got so far ahead of them that sometimes these things happen.”
Dawn Staley spoke about the scuffle between LSU and South Carolina following the Gamecocks' SEC championship win. pic.twitter.com/vnF8WD3boW
— espnW (@espnW) March 10, 2024
There’s no excuse for Cardoso’s (or the fan’s) reactions. The 6-foot-7 center’s push will now overshadow a weekend that also saw her hit a game-winning 3-pointer (her first-ever) Saturday that sent South Carolina into the SEC title game. But Staley also wanted to diffuse the situation. And she knows what happened Sunday isn’t illustrative of the Gamecocks’ undefeated season, or the sport, more broadly.
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“I just don’t want the people who are tuning in to women’s basketball to see that and think that is our game, because it isn’t,” Staley said. “Our game is a really beautiful thing. To be quite honest, this is a part of it now. So we have to fix it, and we have to move on.”
The conversation around Sunday’s title game changed, dampening a thrilling stretch of conference tournament games. The altercation could be the lasting memory from the weekend, and possibly beyond, blocking out Southern California’s triumph over Stanford to claim its first Pac-12 title in a decade. Or Iowa’s Caitlin Clark scoring 30 points in the second half and overtime of the Hawkeyes’ Big Ten championship victory over Nebraska. Or Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey glowing with pride as the Fighting Irish won the ACC crown.
It likely will be a topic of conversation through at least the first round of the NCAA Tournament, not the continued growth of the sport’s popularity. Cardoso will be serving a one-game suspension for breaking NCAA conduct rules, according to ESPN.
At 32-0, the Gamecocks seek to become the 10th national champion to go undefeated. What happened Sunday shouldn’t shroud South Carolina’s campaign. Nor should it be considered representative of women’s college basketball as a whole.
“I know if they had a chance to do it all over again, they would do it differently,” Staley said.
She acknowledged there will be fallout from what happened. Cardoso’s actions put South Carolina — and LSU — in an unnecessary predicament. Perhaps, others too, will be suspended. Staley said, “(I) hope it’s the biggest lesson that any of our teams have to experience.”
Her opposing coach took a different tack. Although she called the incident ugly, LSU coach Kim Mulkey didn’t help matters by preposterously hypothesizing about a bout between more evenly sized opponents and seemingly making light of the situation.
“Why weren’t the coaches tossed if they left the bench? Wouldn’t that be a hell of an ending,” she said.
"I wish she would have pushed Angel Reese. You're 6'8" don't push somebody that little."
LSU coach Kim Mulkey on Kamilla Cardoso 👀 pic.twitter.com/gGtVuepYDb
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) March 10, 2024
She went on: “I can tell you this: I wish (Cardoso) would have pushed Angel Reese. Don’t push a kid — (you’re) 6-8. Let those two girls that were jawing, let them go at it.” Her comments did no one any good. And Reese, to her credit, walked away from the skirmish to the end of the court when the incident began, despite the jawing between her and Cardoso throughout the game.
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The matchup was intense before either team stepped on the floor Sunday. LSU and South Carolina played a tightly contested game in late January, which South Carolina won by 6 points. It was their only meeting of the conference schedule. Then, they finished first and second in the SEC, with so many hoping to see them face off again in the championship game. After it, Reese called it a contest between two “heavy hitters.” Even before the late-game exchange, players traded barbs, and moments of called (and uncalled) chippy contact boiled over to a point where the scuffle broke out.
Staley credited the officials for halting the incident before it grew worse. Her apology, too, was also not the only one voiced on-court. She said afterward that she appreciated LSU’s Johnson for approaching her and apologizing for her role in the altercation. Cardoso also noted on social media that she was “committed to conducting myself with the utmost respect and sportsmanship in the future.” In that regard, responsibility was taken.
Consequences, though, will be leveled. The incident will hover over Sunday’s headlines. But it shouldn’t take away from the Gamecocks’ success. The beauty of March — what has been and what is to come — should shine brighter than Sunday’s madness.
Still, it won’t be permanently erased. Or at least yet forgotten. “We put ourselves in that position,” Staley said. “We made decisions that forced our hand to be in that situation. So I’m hoping that it’s the last of the last.”
(Photo of Kamilla Cardoso: Tracy Glantz / The State / Tribune News Service via Getty Images)