Ken Ruinard / staff / USA TODAY NETWORK

South Carolina Gamecocks: Kamilla Cardoso, Dawn Staley Break Silence on SEC Championship Brawl

Originally posted on Hardwood Heroics
By Angelo Guinhawa | Last updated 3/10/24

The recent SEC Women’s Basketball Championship game was an intense one between the South Carolina Gamecocks and LSU Tigers. What even made it more intense was when Kamilla Cardoso and Flau’jae Johnson got into an altercation during the contest.

During the fourth quarter, MiLaysia Fulwiley stole the ball from Johnson. The latter was called for a foul later by the referees. As the clock was paused, Johnson pushed Ashlyn Watkins after the Gamecocks forward celebrated in her face.

This prompted Cardoso to enter the scene by shoving Johnson. In turn, this started a series of shoving between the two college stars as their respective coaches tried to break the fight up. It even reached a point when an individual from the scorers’ table attempted to join the fray before security got involved.

The said fight caused the game to be delayed by 19 minutes. During that period, South Carolina was in the lead with a score of 73-66. That lead stayed until the Gamecocks went home with the over the LSU Tigers, clinching the SEC Women’s Championship.

South Carolina Gamecocks’ Karolina Cardoso and Dawn Staley Apologize For SEC Championship Game Skirmish

After the game, Cardoso and Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley issued their respective apologies on X:

“I would like to extend my sincerest apologies for my actions during today’s game. My behavior was not representative of who I am as a person or the South Carolina program, and I deeply regret any discomfort or inconvenience it may have caused. I take full responsibility for my actions and assure you that I am committed to conducting myself with the utmost respect and sportsmanship in the future,” Cardoso tweeted.

“”I want to apologize for us playing a part in that. That’s not who we are. That’s not what we are about,” Staley said via a tweet posted by Myron Medcalf.

The incident saw Cardoso ejected from the game and she will likely miss the Gamecocks first NCAA tournament game this season. Ultimately, her team won over LSU with a score of 79-72.

Although this win marked South Carolina’s eight SEC Tournament Championship, the scuffled left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth. Hopefully, both Cardoso and the Gamecocks can bounce back from this incident, especially if the team wants to make a deep run in the upcoming NCAA tournament.

This article first appeared on Hardwood Heroics and was syndicated with permission.

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