Get to Know Kamilla Cardoso: South Carolina’s Undefeated Star

The first 3-pointer of Kamilla Cardoso’s career was a huge one. In the last moments of their Southeastern Conference Tournament semifinal matchup against the Tennessee Lady Volunteers on Saturday in Greenville, South Carolina, the center for the South Carolina Gamecocks found herself down 73-71.

Get to Know Kamilla Cardoso: South Carolina’s Undefeated Star

With her first three-pointer of the season, the Gamecocks prevailed and extended their winning streak to at least one more evening.

The WNBA draft hopeful had no time to choose where to pass the ball after Raven Johnson’s throw-in. Rather, she fired a shot from the shadow of the arc. Dawn Staley urged her to “shoot that blanky-blank.”

It was destined to happen. She made her first 3-pointer of the season to give the Gamecocks their 37th consecutive conference win.

It was her career’s first made three. The 2020–21 season was the last time the SEC Defensive Player of the Year attempted a three-point shot while she was a player for Syracuse. The senior made his 114th appearance since then on Saturday.

Because of this, the No. 5 Tennessee Vols left her wide open with 1.1 seconds remaining in the game, leading 73-71, but the Brazilian center demonstrated that every Gamecock is a danger when the ball is in play.

The 6-7 Cardoso is well-known to fans of the gamecocks. Quietly effective, she won the SEC Sixth Player of the Year award the previous season. She wasn’t a starter, but she still averaged 8.5 rebounds per game, which was second only to the incredible Aliyah Boston. She was the third-most point scorer for the Gamecocks with an average of 9.8 per game.

In her last season, she improves even more, scoring 14.2 points and 9.8 rebounds per contest.

Cardoso attended Syracuse for her freshman year before moving to Columbia, which is located farther south.

 

“I knew with the players we had on the floor, pretty much the only person who was going to be open was Kamilla,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “So I just told Raven [Johnson] to get the ball to Kamilla. And I told Kamilla, ‘Hey, pass it to [Te-Hina] Paopao,’ and then at the last second I was like, ‘Kamilla, shoot it.'”

Cardoso’s shot garnered praise from some big names on social media.

Where is Kamilla Cardoso from?

Cardoso is a native of Brazil’s Montes Claros.

She competes for the national team of her country, and they have won gold in the FIBA AmeriCup in 2023 and the South American Championship in 2022. In February, she skipped her time with the Gamecocks to play in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament, where Brazil lost all three games.

One thing that sets Cardoso apart is her trip from Brazil to Columbia, South Carolina. At the age of 15, she went to Chattanooga, Tennessee, from her birthplace in order to pursue a career in the WNBA and NCAA. She tragically moved away from her sister and mother. When Cardoso first came, she couldn’t even speak English.

Who are Kamilla Cardoso’s parents?

But this year’s March 2 was the best day of all. When Cardoso’s mother, Janete Soares, and elder sister, Jessica Silva, came to town for South Carolina’s Senior Day football game against Tennessee, Staley and the program took her by surprise. She had left Brazil in 2015, so they hadn’t seen her play in person until the senior ceremony, when they had the opportunity to speak with her.

SEC women’s basketball tournament schedule 2024

Wednesday, March 6: First round

Game
Game 1: No. 12 Kentucky 64, No. 13 Georgia 50
Game 2: No. 11 Florida 66, No. 14 Missouri 60

Thursday, March 7: Second round

Game
Game 3: No. 9 Texas A&M 72, No. 8 Mississippi State 56
Game 4: No. 5 Tennessee 76, No. 12 Kentucky 62
Game 5: No. 7 Auburn 67, No. 10 Arkansas 48
Game 6: No. 11 Florida 62, No. 6 Vanderbilt 59

Friday, March 8: Quarterfinals

Game
Game 7: No. 1 South Carolina 79, No. 9 Texas A&M 68
Game 8: No. 5 Tennessee 83, No. 4 Alabama 61
Game 9: No. 2 LSU 78, No. 7 Auburn 48
Game 10: No. 3 Ole Miss 84, No. 11 Florida 74

Saturday, March 9: Semifinals

Game Time (ET) TV channel
Semifinal 1: No. 1 South Carolina 74, No. 5 Tennessee 73 4:30 p.m. ESPNU, Sling
Semifinal 2: No. 2 LSU vs. No. 3 Ole Miss Approx. 7 p.m. ESPNU, Sling

Sunday, March 10: Championship

Game Time (ET) TV channel
Championship: No. 1 South Carolina vs. Semifinal 2 winner 3 p.m. ESPN, Sling

WNBA Draft order 2024

First Round

  1. Indiana Fever
  2. Los Angeles Sparks
  3. Chicago Sky (from Phoenix)
  4. Los Angeles Sparks (from Seattle)
  5. Dallas Wings (from Chicago)
  6. Washington Mystics
  7. Minnesota Lynx
  8. Chicago Sky (from Atlanta, via Los Angeles)
  9. Dallas Wings
  10. Connecticut Sun
  11. New York Liberty
  12. Atlanta Dream (from Las Vegas, via Los Angeles)

A sizable audience from South Carolina screamed in excitement, and Cardoso was surrounded by her jubilant colleagues. The college is located only around 100 miles away from the Greenville arena.

“I was very happy my teammates believed in me,” Cardoso said. “I didn’t have best game I could have, off all night. I was happy I could make the shot and take them to the finals.”

Cardoso was having a game last weekend for her senior day celebration with her mother and sister, who traveled from Brazil. Their first opportunity to watch her perform live since she departed the nation at the age of fifteen was this week.

Who is the South Carolina 6-foot-7 female basketball player?

How the 6-foot-7-inch South Carolina Kamilla Cardoso discovered development in South Carolina. Even on the best basketball team in the world, a 6-foot-7 player finds it nearly hard to blend in.

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