USC getting different dynamics from point guards. Why Kierra Fletcher remains starter
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South Carolina guard Kierra Fletcher played just four minutes in South Carolina’s Feb. 5 win against UConn.
Fletcher wasn’t hurting the team with her play, but backup point guard Raven Johnson simply caught fire once she stepped on the court that day. Johnson took the court for the rest of the game, and Fletcher took no issue with that.
“One of our coaches saw her just say, ‘Raven, it’s yours,’ ” head coach Dawn Staley said. “Go out there and run the team.”
Staley has made it clear that Fletcher remains the starting point guard for the No. 1 Gamecocks (25-0, 12-0 SEC).
Fletcher, who transferred to USC from Georgia Tech for this season, has started in 23 of South Carolina’s 25 games. She averages 4.3 points and 3.3 rebounds, but statistics don’t fully tell the story of what Fletcher has provided with her 15.8 minutes per game.
Fletcher’s defense is a key factor that keeps her in the Gamecocks’ starting lineup, and it showed in Sunday’s 88-64 win over LSU.
When Tigers guard Alexis Morris got hot — 4-of-7 shooting for 8 points in the second quarter — Staley asked Fletcher to defend her and slow her down in the second half. Morris shot 4-of-14 in the final 20 minutes of the game.
“She got loose a little bit and then we just decided that it’s Kierra,” Staley said.
Fletcher even shared the floor with Johnson in the third quarter, a rare combination this season.
Fletcher is the ultimate foil to Johnson, who averages 16.8 minutes per game. Johnson likes to push the ball down the court and throw flashy passes. She has quick hands on defense, getting a lot of steals by disrupting ball handlers and getting in the passing lane.
Fletcher is the traffic cop. She keeps the offense going at a steady pace, finding players in their spots and feeding the hot hand. On defense, she’s a strong on-ball defender.
“They’re totally two different players, two different point guards that are equally effective with how they run our basketball team,” Staley said on Jan. 18.
Fletcher had her best scoring game with her 12-point, 10-rebound performance Nov. 29 against UCLA. She used mostly midrange jumpers to give the team a lift on offense. She hasn’t scored in double-figures in any other game.
For the offense South Carolina is running, though, she hasn’t needed to score. The team has had seven different players lead the team in scoring across 25 games.
Against Auburn last Thursday, she tied her season-high of five assists, playing 20 minutes to Johnson’s eight. Johnson is the team’s leader in that department with eight games of five dimes or more.
“I always tell her, I wish I could pass the way she does,” Fletcher said. “She just sees the floor so differently.”
As a Yellow Jacket, Fletcher scored more consistently and ran the point for four years as a starter. She suffered a foot injury in what would have been her fifth year there in the 2021-22 season.
South Carolina played against Georgia Tech in the 2021 Sweet Sixteen, when Fletcher posted 16 points, seven rebounds and three steals against the Gamecocks.
“Really good downhill player,” Georgia Tech head coach Nell Fortner told The State at this season’s ACC media day. “Strong guard, excellent offensive rebounding guard. ... We missed her tremendously last year.”
Fletcher’s role looks much different on a national championship-caliber team. She isn’t asked to play the same amount of minutes as she did with the Yellow Jackets, and she doesn’t take nearly as many shots.
Who starts the game isn’t as important as who finishes, and South Carolina’s a team that likes to ride the hot hand.
But getting out to strong starts is vital, and Fletcher’s experience and poise keep her in that starting spot.
“I definitely think I am settling in a lot more,” Fletcher said after the Jan. 5 win against Auburn. “I kind of feel it when I’m playing. My dad actually texted me and said it looks like I’m playing a little bit more settled in as well.”
NEXT FOUR SOUTH CAROLINA WBB GAMES
Thursday: home vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
Sunday: at Ole Miss, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)
Feb. 23: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Feb. 26: home vs. Georgia, noon (ESPN2)
