Birmingham, Ala.
Kitts, 6-Naha-2 Junior Post, was the best offensive weapon in South Carolina in the fourth quarter. In that quarter she scored eight of her 14 points, but she didn’t want the ball for her last two.
After the southern Carolina has left Hud, Kitts turned to the point guard Ta-Hina Paopao and asked her, “Can you get the ball? Can you get the ball?” Paopao was impressed and refused Kitts’s request.
“Girl, what? Go the ball,” she told her.
Kitts got the ball and was contaminated before he went to the free throw line with nerves at the highest level. KITTS is a good free throw shooter, until then it produced 5 out of 8 and this season is 81 % free shooter. But at that moment, the last four aspirations of Gamecocks were hanging in balance, she was frightened.
She couldn’t even look at her father, Jason Kitts, in the stalls.
Around her players of South Carolina encouraged her. Bree Hall, who stood on the line to bounce, said to Kitts, “You’re unshakable. You have it.” Sania Feagin told her to take a deep breath.
She listened to them and made both feasts. A few seconds later, the highest deployed South Carolina defeated the Duke 54-50 the second deployed and won the fifth straight trip to Final Four. But this was different for Kitts.
Cut the net ✂#Marchmadness x #Wfinalfour pic.twitter.com/3phhe8cfzq
– NCAA MARCH MADNESS (@MARCHMADNESSWBB) March 30, 2025
It was a confirmation that Kitts, who watched as Elite Post Player after he came to this program Elite Post Player and won, deserves his role as one of the leaders of South Carolina.
“It’s amazing because I feel like I worked so hard, and my process is different. … I’m so grateful that I’m in this position at the end of the game to go to Final Four,” Kitts said.
When South Carolina celebrated another victory of Eight Eight, the floor was chaotic. Some players danced together while others took pictures with their families. Staley even went to the side to sign the child’s bottom.
Here is Dawn Staley signing the bottom of the child during the celebration of the South Carolina after creating the Final Four pic.twitter.com/mg3z54sjyu
– Ben Pickman (@benpickman) March 30, 2025
Kitts, named the regional MVP, found his mother and father first in court in the middle of the celebration. She hugged all her teammates, cut off a piece of net and then set out on the stalls.
Kitts hugged and took pictures with fans sitting behind the bench of South Carolina. He even got a child to hold while she took a picture. It was a scene that resembled the presidential candidates with greetings and Kitts loved it.
Since she entered the campus as a newcomer, she said she felt the support of the fan base in South Carolina. The celebration with them, even after one of her biggest NCAA moments, was steadfast.
“Fans mean so much to me. The little boys and little girls look at us,” Kitts said.
It’s more than just fans looking at Kitts. It’s her team now.
When Kitts jumped her high school of seniors of basketball to register early in South Carolina, she knew that the transition to college would not be easy.
“She probably thought it was the worst decision she made when she walked,” she said Staley.
At that time, however, she had a chance to learn from players like Aliyah Boston, Kamilla Cardoso and the rest of the stacked teams in South Carolina, which achieved Final Four.
The question was never about Kitts’s talent. She had to learn the standard in South Carolina and grew up to college. As soon as she did, things started to click.
Last season she started at 31 out of 37 games and was a key part of the National Championship team, but this season she had to join a larger leading role.
With Cardoso, She and Feagin, they became two leading mail players.
Kitts average 10.3 career points with added minutes, but it is its calming presence that has more weight. He knows how to alleviate people in big moments and keep things free behind the scenes.
“What I really like about Chloe, you know if she’ll make you something, or say something from the wall, it’s her. She’s comfortable in her skin,” said Staley.
In court, while she could scream inside, she does not show it from the outside because her presence releases everyone else because of her consistency. In 23 of her 35 games she scored in double characters and also achieved this brand in 10 of the last 11 games.
“To perform and do what she was doing for the last month, it was great to see and play because we know we’ll get it every night,” said Paopao.
The key to Kitts is her trust and her teammates see how every game grows.
“We had all confidence in it, but we had to wait for it to experience the confidence in ourselves,” said Paropao. “It will be a great leader we need for the other two games if we manage business.”
Coaching staff and South Carolina players have maximum confidence in cats. The only thing she said was the only thing she had passed when she approached the line for her last free throw of the game.
“My coach wanted me to have the ball at the end of the game because she knew I could make my free feast,” Kitts said. “I just said,” I’m really good in basketball. “”
(Photo: Greg Fiume / NCAA Photos via Getty Images)
