South Carolina’s coaching staff knew who they wanted to get the ball with seconds left.

When Chloe Kitts found out it was her, she came to the court with different ideas.

“So I walked out there and I was like, ‘Pao, can you get the ball? Can you get the ball,‘” she asked Te-Hina Paopao. “And Pao was like, ‘Girl what? Go get the ball.‘”

Even with an inner battle, the Birmingham Regional MVP provided another MVP moment when it mattered.

Kitts’ pair of free throws with five seconds left in an Elite Eight matchup against Duke sealed a 54-50 victory and sent the Gamecocks to their fifth straight Final Four appearance.

The MVP finished with 14 points against the Blue Devils, 8 coming in the fourth quarter of the matchup; she scored all of the final 6 points of the game for South Carolina, including a clutch layup with 1:47 left to play.

But, her late appearance at the charity stripe was the moment she thought about the most.

“I got the ball and I went to the line and I was just taking a deep breath,” she recalled. “I told myself that my coach wanted me to have the ball at the end of the game because she knew I could make my free throws, and I told myself that I’m really good at basketball and I made both of them.”

The late plays that the coaching staff trusted Kitts with were a culmination of work over the last few years, with Staley priding the junior for how she’s matured during her time at South Carolina.

“She’s grown in every aspect of her life,” the coach said. “Mentally, physically, emotionally, we have grown-up conversations and I can’t believe it sometimes because of how she came in. Now she’s really thought-provoking; she is really asking all the right things.

“Whether she makes you laugh at something that she says or she says something off the wall, it’s her. She is comfortable in her skin. That’s what I want for my players, to get to know who they are, don’t care about what anybody else thinks of them and just continue to move on. But she is growing, right?”

This marked the second tournament honors for Kitts, who also claimed SEC tournament MVP after totaling 50 points and 23 rebounds across the Gamecocks’ three SEC tournament games; she shot an elite 23-for-31 (74.1%) from the field during that stretch.

She started at South Carolina after joining the program in December of the 2022-23 season, leaving high school early to start playing.

“It feels amazing because I feel like I worked so hard,” Kitts said. “My process is different and everyone’s process is different and I’m just so thankful to be in that position at the end of the game to go to the Final Four.”

The performance was met by a rowdy crowd in Birmingham, which Kitts stayed to talk to and pose for some pictures following the Elite Eight victory on Sunday.

Ahead of a Final Four matchup against Texas or TCU, Kitts said that she aims to keep bringing moments on and off the court for the fans that mean so much to her.

“Those little boys and little girls look up to us,” she said. “Just watching coach throughout my years here go and really try and say hi and take a picture with everyone, made me feel like I need to do that more”