CLEVELAND – Kamilla Cardoso felt the pressure of the decision ahead of her.

Should she go to the WNBA, or return for a fifth year to keep playing with South Carolina women's basketball?

The 6-foot-7 senior center didn't have to make the decision until after the Gamecocks' run in the NCAA Tournament was over. No. 1 seed South Carolina (36-0) faces No. 3 seed NC State  (31-6) in the Final Four on Friday (7 p.m. ET, ESPN).

But Cardoso wanted the pressure off her shoulders, so she got the decision out of the way and declared for the WNBA Draft on Monday. She had a conversation with coach Dawn Staley, and both of them agreed she's ready to go to the league.

"It wasn't a really easy decision for me, because I'm really close with this team," Cardoso said Thursday. "So it was kind of heartbreaking, just knowing I'm going to leave them and this is going to be my last time playing with them. But I just know they're going to support me no matter what, and they're obviously going to be happy for me, and I'm obviously going to be happy for them."

Staley they had the conversation Monday afternoon in her office. It went like many of the conversations Staley has had with her former players before they go pro: They say what they want to say, and Staley wishes them well.

"They're ready. If I didn't think they were ready, I would tell them ... Kamilla's ready," Staley said. "There's much better basketball on the other side of her career in the WNBA, because she's going to be with pros. That's going to push her in ways that college really can't, because the game is so much quicker when she goes to the next level. She's going to be able to react a little bit quicker and get a lot better when she's with other pros."

ESPN, The Athletic, CBS Sports and Sporting News all have Cardoso as a projected lottery pick going No. 4 to the Los Angeles Sparks.

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Cardoso is leading the Gamecocks with 14.1 points and 9.4 rebounds per game. Her 77 blocks are second-most on the team and her 58.9% field goal shooting is 16th in the country.

Cardoso, who is from Montes Claros, Brazil, transferred to South Carolina after her freshman season at Syracuse, where she averaged 13.6 points and eight rebounds per game. She spent the past three seasons with the Gamecocks. In her career, Cardoso averaged 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Dawn Staley: South Carolina star Kamilla Cardoso ready for WNBA draft