At its heart, March in college basketball is all about the aphorism survive and advance.
That goes for bottom-feeders, bubble teams and national title contenders alike—as No. 1 South Carolina found out Saturday afternoon.
The Gamecocks entered Saturday 30–0, in search of their first undefeated season in school history. Tennessee, however, played South Carolina tough in an SEC tournament semifinal and led the Gamecocks 73–71 with 1.1 seconds left on the clock.
That was when South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso made magic happen.
Catching an inbound pass completely unguarded, Cardoso turned and banked in the first three-pointer of her career to send the Gamecocks to the conference championship.
KAMILLA CARDOSO YOUVE GOTTA BE F*CKING KIDDING ME
— Mark Schindler (@MG_Schindler) March 9, 2024
OMG WHAT
GAMECOCKS STAY UNDEFEATED pic.twitter.com/3QNYhUhaTm
Making the moment even more remarkable was the fact that Cardoso—a native of Montes Claros, Brazil—had her family in attendance for the biggest shot of her career.
That was Kamilla Cardoso's first 3-point make of her career. And she has her family from Brazil in the stands to see it.
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) March 9, 2024
Unbelievable!
After the game, coach Dawn Staley revealed just what she told Cardoso before the shot.
DAwn Staley: "The last thing that came out of my mouth was 'Kamilla, shoot that blanky blank'" pic.twitter.com/BoxwDiCAB1
— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) March 9, 2024
If South Carolina can beat either LSU or Ole Miss in the conference championship Sunday and sweep the NCAA tournament, the Gamecocks will have Cardoso to thank for saving their perfect record.
