"Coach done lit a fire under this team": South Carolina fans wowed by Ashlyn Watkins' powerful block vs. Iowa State
After having their 43-game win streak ended by UCLA on Sunday, Ashlyn Watkins and South Carolina bounced back against the Iowa State Cyclones on Thursday. The Gamecocks posted their biggest win of the season, defeating the Cyclones by a 40-point difference (76-36).
One of the biggest highlights of the game came in the second quarter. Ashlyn Watkins blocked Emily Ryan's jump shot near the free-throw line, sparking an easy fastbreak layup from MiLaysia Fulwiley. It was South Carolina's 24th consecutive point, giving them a huge 27-3 lead over Iowa State.
Fans stormed the comment section to showcase their excitement for the sequence:
"All of WCBB is p***ed at UCLA for waking the beast! Everyone should be afraid, very afraid!" a fan commented.
"Coach done lit a fire under this team. The rest of yall is done.," another fan wrote.
"Pretty sure Dawn got the message through after UCLA.," another fan commented.
More fans joined in, appreciating Ashlyn Watkins and MiLaysia Fulwiley's connection:
"She's baaaccckkkk, Swatkins Dunking 👏👏🔥❤️💪🏀🐔🤙🤙🤙," a fan wrote.
"That’s our Ashlyn! Oh yeah!!! 🤙🏼🐔🏀💯," another fan commented.
"Great bounce back!" another fan wrote.
Watkins garnered six points and eight rebounds in 20 minutes of action. Fulwiley dropped eight points and five rebounds. Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards led South Carolina with 13 points each on 75% shooting.
The Gamecocks will play Purdue Boilermakers tomorrow in the second leg of the back-to-back.
South Carolina back to its 'very best' with Ashlyn Watkins
Participating in 38 contests last season, Ashlyn Watkins started in only 10 games. However, the forward quickly solidified herself as the most versatile defender on Dawn Staley’s roster.
During the 2024 NCAA tournament, Watkins played some of her heaviest minutes in the Elite Eight and Final Four contests against Oregon State and NC State. And in the last three games in South Carolina’s championship run, she averaged 13 rebounds and 2.3 blocks.
Watkins got suspended from the team after her arrest on Aug. 31 amid charges of assault and kidnapping. However, she was reinstated after those charges were dropped earlier this month.
Speaking on Watkins' return, Dawn Staley was pleased to have her full roster again.
"Ashlyn is back, we welcome her back, we are going to let her get acclimated to being back on the team and we look forward to having our entire team back," Staley said per the Greenville News.
"We are at our very best when we have our full roster, especially healthy, so it feels good, it feels natural, it doesn't feel unnatural to us, it feels we're complete now."
In six games thus far, Watkins is averaging 6.8 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 1.5 blocks.