South Carolina women’s basketball took care of business against Georgia but then saw its 57-game SEC winning streak end at Texas. What did we learn from the weekend?

1. The sky isn’t falling
Everyone loses a conference game every three years or so. And the last time South Carolina lost a regular-season SEC game, it won the national championship.

South Carolina is still in first place in the SEC (if the season ended today, there would be a coin flip to decide whether South Carolina or Texas is the top seed in the SEC Tournament). South Carolina is still projected to be a one-seed in the NCAA Tournament (although the UConn game now means more for seeding).

Best of all, there aren’t many, if any, other teams like Texas out there. The Longhorns are a bad matchup for South Carolina, which makes the 17-point win a month ago even more impressive.

It was also a good learning experience. There were probably a dozen different instances in the game that the Gamecocks can look at and say, “If we’d done this the other way, we would have won.”

Win tickets to the South Carolina-Florida women’s basketball game

2. The offense still has some issues
South Carolina shot just 36.8% on Sunday. The only other time the Gamecocks have shot that low this season was 36.4% at UCLA. Notice a trend?

They were road losses at top-five opponents, obviously. But South Carolina managed just one fast break point and 11 points off turnovers in Westwood. In Austin, the Gamecocks had only 13 fast break points and six points off turnovers.

South Carolina has improved tremendously on the offensive end since late November, but it doesn’t mean all the problems have been fixed.

South Carolina has been really good at forcing turnovers and converting them into points this season. When it doesn’t happen, it lays bare the issues the offense has.

They don’t have a true post, and although Joyce Edwards has emerged as the go-to player, she struggles against big opponents like UCLA and Texas. Other than Edwards, South Carolina doesn’t seem to have a go-to lineup or set when it needs a bucket.

South Carolina got a lot of open looks from three against Texas but didn’t convert. You can live with Te-Hina Paopao (2-7), Tessa Johnson (1-3), and Bree Hall (2-4) taking those threes because they usually make them.

South Carolina has also struggled from the free throw line over the last six games, something I wrote about yesterday. It’s fair to wonder if the missed shots are the product of heavy legs and that five-game gauntlet in January has taken a toll. 

South Carolina uses its second SEC bye to play UConn, so the Gamecocks don’t get another break. But they do play some of the weaker teams in the SEC. Hopefully, they can take care of business and rest the key players a little.

Win tickets to the South Carolina-Arkansas women’s basketball game

3. Fulwiley is still special
For whatever reason, it sometimes feels like MiLaysia Fulwiley has been an afterthought this season. Maybe it’s because her numbers are down slightly from her freshman season, maybe it’s because we are used to the breathtaking plays, or maybe it’s because there is a new shiny toy in Joyce Edwards.

Fulwiley led South Carolina with 13 points, three steals, and three assists against Texas. She also didn’t have an official turnover and played exceptional defense. And she did it in her brand new player edition Curry Brand shoes.

Much like the SEC championship game against LSU, when Texas tried to outmuscle the Gamecocks, Fulwiley was the one player who was too quick, strong, and athletic to be contained.

If Fulwiley hadn’t missed almost four minutes in the fourth quarter with discomfort in her arm, South Carolina might have won.