As with any other aspect, trash talk has also become an integral part of the game where words can cut as sharply as crossovers. However, that too has its limits, as trash-talking often escalates into a scuffle. The same was the case during the SEC championship title game when South Carolina’s Senior Kamilla Cardoso shoved LSU’s Sophomore Flau’jae Johnson to the ground. Despite getting the victory, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley stayed humble and apologized to the basketball community for the incident.

In the post-game interview, Staley talked about winning the SEC conference title for the 8th time in a decade and about the incident saying, “I mean the players, it’s all about the players being able to make plays on both sides of the basketball, you know I just want to apologize to the basketball community. You know when you’re playing in championship games like this in our league things get heated. No bad intentions, they just try, their emotions got so far ahead of them that sometimes these things happen.” 

She reiterated that this scuffle doesn’t portray who they really are. “I want to apologize for for us playing a part in that cuz that’s not who we are and that’s not what we’re about, um but I’m happy for the players that were able to finish the game and get us another championship.”

Asked how she will deal with the situation in the locker room, Staley said, “Um I mean we’re going to talk about, we’ve always talked about it never leave the bench, you know never get too high with the highs or low with the lows. It’s hard when you’re playing. I played this game a long time and I can’t tell you I was a saint at all times, okay your emotions get the best of you.”

Given the teams were in the SEC title showdown, the heat was predictable. Being the only unbeaten team in the regular season, the South Carolina Gamecocks maintained their lead through the first 3 quarters. However, things turned interesting in the 4th with LSU trailing by only 7 points.

A simple steal leads to a massive scuffle

Kamilla Cardoso and Flau’jae Johnson engaged in a scuffle after MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from Johnson, which resulted in the LSU star pulling Fulwiley back by her jersey. This led to Cardoso pushing Johnson to the floor, and this escalated into a scuffle with staff from both teams trying to break it off.

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As a result, the incident caused a 19-minute delay in the game for the officials to properly assess the situation to understand what exactly went through the series of actions and reactions. After the officials were done with their assessment, Pualani Spurlock announced the sanctions.

“Okay, we have an intentional foul on LSU number four which stopped the play, we have a DQ fighting penalty on number 10 for South Carolina, we have players from both benches coming on to the court but not participating. All those players will be ejected so we will finish the game with five on five. Play will resume with the intentional foul to anybody on South Carolina shooting the ball then we will go to the DQ for LSU anybody shooting those two free throws and the ball will be put in play at the division line for LSU.”

Anytime a scuffle breaks out, the benches are expected to remain in their places to avoid escalation. So, in simple words, from that point on it became a 5-on-5 battle without any substitutes.

Saving Dawn Staley and South Carolina’s Unbeaten Streak, Kamilla Cardoso Reflects on Her First 3-Pointer

The game at last resumed, and the Gamecocks maintained their lead as they defeated last year’s NCAA champions and won the SEC title. The Gamecocks will be making their 20th NCAA Tournament appearance while LSU awaits their NCAA tournament bid.