Dawn Staley gets real on "generational talent" MiLaysia Fulwiley after South Carolina beat Vanderbilt in SEC tournament

South Carolina star MiLaysia Fulwiley helped to guide the Gamecocks past the Vanderbilt Commodores 84-63 in the Southeastern Conference Tournament quarterfinal. She tallied 15.0 points, 6.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the game.

During her postgame news conference, the ever-supportive Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley lavished praise on Fulwiley while detailing the different aspects of her game that make her special.

"MiLaysia is a talent, she's a generational talent," Staley said (11:00). "When I say that, it's because she can do things on a basketball court that I haven't seen a female do. And she consistently does it. When she's got it going on, again she pushes tempo where her speed is her superpower. No one on the court can keep in front of her when she's got it going on.

"When her 3s are falling, when she's just able to creatively put on her talent. She gets a little hyper with it, she gets a little degree of difficulty when it's not called for. I just wanna add that sometimes a simple pass will do and in some instances and sometimes the behind-the-back pass, that was the only pass that she could deliver the ball. She's a talent.

MiLaysia Fulwiley's buzzer-beater goes viral

MiLaysia Fulwiley showed off the full range of her skills as the South Carolina Gamecocks took down the Vanderbilt Commodores but one moment remained etched on the minds of most fans.

Towards the end of the first quarter, Fulwiley stole the ball from Vanderbilt's Leilani Kapinus before sprinting half the court and, with time winding down, drained a shot from beyond the arc to send the fans inside the Bon Secours Wellness Arena into a frenzy.

During her postgame news conference, Fulwiley broke down her thought process during the entirety of the clutch play that gained momentum for the Gamecocks.

"I saw how she was dribbling casually, so I was like, ‘I might as well just try to take it," MiLaysia Fulwiley said. "There’s only two seconds left.’ When I took it, I was like, ‘Well, I have to shoot it. I felt very comfortable shooting it… I kind of knew it was going in when I took it.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley is averaging 11.9 points on 41.7% shooting from the field and 25.2% shooting from beyond the arc, 2.9 rebounds and 1.7 assists this season and was recently named the SEC 2025 Sixth Woman of the Year and All-SEC Second Team for her efforts.