After defeating #8 Duke on Thursday night in Columbia, SC, the Gamecocks improved to 8-1 with the lone blemish for the defending national champions coming on the road against now #1 UCLA. The loss snaps Dawn Staley’s 43-game win streak. From my perspective, this team is still far from their potential. There are more players ready to take and make the big shots on this squad.

Chloe Kitts leads scorers, averaging 12.1 points a game, while Te-Hina Paopao (11.9), Malaysia Fulwiley (9.9), Joyce Edwards (9.6) and Tessa Johnson (9) round out the scoring depth. Freshman Maddie McDaniel is 16-25 from the field in her role off the bench and becoming a fan and team favorite.

Next opponent: Sunday, Dec. 8 at #9 TCU

Next home game: Sunday, Dec. 15 vs. USF

Photos made by Sean Rayford for Getty Images vs. Duke (Dec. 5), East Carolina (Nov. 17) and Coppin State (Nov. 14) in Columbia, SC

At 8-1, South Carolina has wins over Duke (#8), NC State (#9), Iowa State (#15), Michigan, , ECU, Coppin State, and Clemson. The team is averaging 80 points a game — beating opponents by an average of 24 points. The Gamecocks are limiting opponents to 37% from the field and out-rebounding teams by an average of 12.7 boards a game.

“When we look good, when we’re most efficient, we know what that looks like. Sometimes our players really, they don’t know what that looks like because they think all open shots are good shots, and they’re not, okay? So we sometimes struggle with that.” - Coach Dawn Staley

“Maddy’s solid. If you can have a young point guard that can just play solid and is reliable, like, she is reliable. Like, she doesn’t turn the ball over a whole lot. She handles the ball well. She knows what we need, how we want to play and execute on both sides of the basketball. She can score. You put her in a high pick and roll, I mean, she’s delivering for us time and time again. Just solid, it’s unfortunate that we don’t have more minutes to give her because, all of our point guards are playing really well.” -Coach Dawn Staley

Sania Feagin is averaging 16 minutes and 6.7 points a game.

Chloe Kitts is averaging 19 minutes, 12 points, and 8.4 rebounds a game.

“I’m happy because Chloe pours into herself. She does all the right things in regards to prepping herself. She does all the right things in making lifestyle changes in order for her to play this way. She wants to be a pro. So she’s active in doing things and creating habits that will help her. So I want basketball to repay her for that every time she steps on the floor because there’s so many that they just come to practice and that’s it. They don’t do any extra. She does all the extra. So I want basketball to repay her in this way a lot more times than it has.” -Coach Staley

Winston Gandy, center, Jolette Law, left, and Khadijah Sessions, right

“I love Maddy. This is actually my first time watching her play as as a hooper. But I even asked her, I was like, Are you even 100% she said, No. I was like, oh, it's gonna be scary when you are 100% but she's just, she's very calming. She has a calming presence. She knows when to go, when the when not to go. She plays with really good pace, tempo, and, yeah, she's just, she's really good. I'm really excited to see her grow throughout the season.” -Te-Hina Paopao on Maddy McDaniel