A’ja Wilson Wins the Off-Court Battle Against Candace Parker as South Carolina Beats the Lady Vols in a Nail-Biting Semi-Final

The Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville experienced one of the first ‘March Madness’ moments of this year’s NCAA tournament. Just as the basketball world was about to witness a huge upset, South Carolina’s senior center Kamilla Cardoso buried the most riveting three of the SEC tournament.

Thanks to Cardoso’s 3-point heave, the Gamecocks are now through to Sunday’s final. Following this, it caught the attention of some of the prominent names of the sport which includes Dawn Staley’s former protege, A’ja Wilson.

A’ja Wilson wins a friendly wager against Candace Parker

A first-ever three-pointer from South Carolina’s leading scorer and rebounder, Kamilla Cardoso, ended a dramatic semi-final SEC clash. Apparently, a desperate “Shoot it!” from Dawn Staley resulted in a miraculous escape for her crew as they beat Tennessee 74-73 in a cliffhanger. Soon after, the former South Carolina Gamecock herself A’ja Wilson shared this winding yet breathtaking moment in one of her stories.

In addition to this, there was also an off-court battle going on for the Aces’ No.22. with her teammate Candace Parker. After the game ended, she made sure that she rubbed this defeat on the former Tennesse Volunteer. Wilson, who led the Gamecocks to their first NCAA title in 2017 was delighted to boast the victory of her alma mater.

The 2x WNBA MVP went on to Twitter and mocked Parker by tweeting, “@Candace_Parker called me thinking it was overrrrrr” followed by a bunch of laughing emojis. Surely, their friendly banter was as entertaining as the game itself.

After the magic transpired on the court, it was deafening at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena with the crowd going absolutely wild. Cardoso was surrounded by her jubilated teammates on the court. Consequently, her shot will take the No.1 ranked Gamecocks to their ninth tournament final in the past 10 seasons.

Dawn Staley was thrilled that Cardoso heard her

Meanwhile, a relieved Dawn Staley was glad that the Lady Vols weren’t able to break her team’s perfect record. Also, she opened up about her thoughts just before the final buzzer.

Read More- Being the Only Undefeated Team, Know How Dawn Staley Instilled an Indomitable Spirit in South Carolina

An elated Staley addressed the media after the terrific victory. Speaking about the moment she said, “I knew with the players we had on the floor, pretty much the only person who was going to be open was Kamilla. So I just told Raven to get the ball to Kamilla. And I told Kamilla, ‘Hey, pass it to Paopao,’ and then at the last second I was like, ‘Kamilla, shoot it.”

Undeniably, it was a game worthy of a semifinal. While South Carolina managed to pull off a phenomenal victory, nothing can be taken away from the Lady Vols. Will the Gamecocks do something similar against LSU on Sunday and beat them for the second time this season? We’ll have to wait and watch.

Read More- What Makes Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks an Undefeated Team So Far?

What are your thoughts on the game? Tell us in the comments section.