Hoops content creator resonates with Dawn Staley on MiLaysia Fulwiley’s unpredictability at South Carolina: “One great play then one boneheaded”.

Dawn Staley, MiLaysia Fulwiley (Image Credits: GETTY)

After a successful freshman season where she showed flashes of excellence, MiLaysia Fulwiley was expected to lead the 2024-25 campaign for the South Carolina Gamecocks. While she has performed well, the sophomore is inconsistent, a sentiment shared by South Carolina coach Dawn Staley.

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On Wednesday’s episode of The Ringer WNBA Show, when reviewing the top teams in the NCAAW, Seerat Sohi shared similar thoughts on Fulwiley, (Timestamp: 22:30):

“MiLaysia Fulwiley bounces back. But she still does, like, the one great play and then one, like, boneheaded, like, just throw the ball out of bounds or, like, don’t catch it type of play.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley had one of her best nights against then-No. 9 TCU when she finished with 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting and three steals in an 85-52 romp on Dec. 8. The performance earned her praise from Dawn Staley, who said:

“She is playing so much better, Ashlyn (Watkins) is playing (better). They make us a different basketball team when they’re as engaged as they were against TCU. They know what they mean to our basketball team. I get on them a lot, but certainly, it’s high praise for them today because ever since those practices prior to TCU, they’ve been on point.”

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Staley also spoke about the process that took her to get to this point:

“Sometimes, it’s slower than we want as coaches, and sometimes, we gotta hold some people back. But for those two, I just think that they’ve responded extremely well with what they were challenged with a week ago.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley’s struggles continue as South Carolina prepares for conference games

Second-ranked South Carolina (11-1) played its final game before Christmas break on Thursday against Charleston Southern and won 82-46. MiLaysia Fulwiley finished with seven points and two rebounds on a 3-of-9 shooting. This comes after she had four points, two rebounds and two steals against USF on Sunday.

As she continues to struggle to find her consistency, the Gamecocks prepare for the toughest games against their conference teams after the Christmas break. Fulwiley is averaging 10.3 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists per contest.

While talking to the press after the win over the Buccaneers, Dawn Staley said:

“I’m happy that we got over a really hard nonconference season with two nonconference games left to play. … We play Wofford after the break, but (we’re) looking forward to our conference because it’s going to be another challenging opportunity for us to get better.”

The South Carolina vs. Wofford game is at 2 p.m. on Dec. 29.