5-star freshman Kitts adds punch to No. 1 South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Chloe Kitts was afraid to look around too much at Colonial Life Arena. She already was nervous in her first game for No. 1 South Carolina and didn’t want to lose her focus entirely.

No danger of that. Kitts, an early enrollee, finished with 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals in her college debut to help the Gamecocks defeat Charleston Southern 87-23 on Sunday.

“When I got out there, I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh,’ and I was sweating already before I had even played,” Kitts said. “But it’s good when you have a good support system and all the girls around me were very supportive of me. It helped me be less nervous.”

Kitts is a 6-foot-2 freshman who was considered among the top prospects in next year’s class. But she decided to finish prep school early to join the Gamecocks, who improved to 11-0 after beating Charleston Southern.

Kitts quickly has found her niche among the defending national champions’ deep, skilled roster.

“I feel we’re really close to where we were last season and Chloe’s fitting right into the system,” senior Zia Cooke said.

Cooke said Kitts came to practices ready to work and asks questions that many young players are afraid to do so early in their careers. At one point Sunday, Kitts and coach Dawn Staley stood next to each other on the court as the freshman asked for advice.

Kitts brings an ability to shoot that South Carolina — hitting just 28% on 3-pointers this season — will need to compete in the Southeastern Conference.

Staley sees no problem with Kitts easily melding into her experienced group, which returned four players who started for the national champions a year ago.

“We’ve got players who are super inviting,” Staley said. “They embrace her. They want to win. And if she can help us win, they’re going to help her integrate very fairly quickly.”

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25