South Carolina’s three freshmen made their NCAA Tournament debuts on Saturday, and each believes she laid the groundwork to help the Gamecocks make a

Alicia Tournebize and Agot Makeer (Photo by Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

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South Carolina women's basketball: The Gamecock freshmen made strong NCAA Tournament debuts

With just five games left in the regular season, how have South Carolina’s three freshmen performed in their first year?  Agot Makeer  18 games (5

Alicia Tournebize (Photo by Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina women's basketball: How the Gamecock freshmen stack up

Four months ago, freshmen Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell weren’t expected to be major contributors this season. But three games in, they have found

Agot Makeer (Photo by Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina women's basketball: The quick impacts of Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell has been a group effort

Freshmen Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell are off to impressive starts to the season, and both credit their international experience for smoothing the

Ayla McDowell (Photo by Katie Dugan/GamecockCentral)

South Carolina women's basketball: Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell say FIBA experience prepared them for college

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley signed two players in the Gamecocks' class of 2025. Five-star wings Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell

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Pair of South Carolina wings make On3's list of SEC's top freshmen

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Ayla McDowell is so focused on being great that she keeps a list of goals she hopes to accomplish in her basketball career. The list is an old crumpled up paper at this point, but with every success she achieves, she still opens it up and marks something off the list. “Having a list of goals for me is very important because I like achieving them,” McDowell told the Houston Chronicle. “I love going back and highlighting them and then in the future, when I get older, looking back at all the goals that I accomplished. I just know it's going to make me really happy.” Through her junior year of high school, she's checked a lot of boxes. As a junior she was a third-team All-American who averaged 19.6 points and 9.2 rebounds as her team went 30-3 and reached the 6A regional semifinals. “Ayla’s a special kid and everyone who meets her will know that she just has a presence about herself that's fun to be around,” Cypress Springs coach Taneisha Rogers said. “She wakes me up at five o'clock in the morning, ‘Coach can I get in the gym.’ She's just a gym rat. A lot of people don't know that about her. She's the first person in the gym, three times a week, all year long, and she's also the last one to leave.”

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