South Carolina women's basketball: Five Things to Watch - Anderson

No. 2 South Carolina tips off the 2025-26 season with an exhibition against Anderson on Friday night. These are five things to watch.

1. Does anything look different (and hopefully better)?
Sometimes you don’t learn anything from exhibitions. Sometimes you do. 

In 2023, the exhibition against Rutgers was the first inkling we had that the Gamecocks had something special. The opposite was true last season. The Gamecocks were fine but not quite firing on all cylinders, which ended up describing the whole season.

On the other hand, nothing about the 2019 exhibition suggested South Carolina was going to annihilate the rest of the SEC and finish as the consensus no. 1 team.

“My expectation is to play like you’ve been coached,” Dawn Staley said. “Play like you’ve been practicing. It’s not hard, (but) it may be a little difficult for some. There’ll be some people in here. A lot of people in here, hopefully, that will see them play for the first time, and it takes a while to make that transition.”

It would be nice to see Raven Johnson knock down a three-pointer or two, Tessa Johnson be aggressive on both ends of the court, and Joyce Edwards show continued growth in her game. Does the offense operate more smoothly than last season?

2. The rotation
Because of Chloe Kitts’ injury, there isn’t much mystery with the starting lineup: Raven Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson, Tessa Johnson, Joyce Edwards, and Madina Okot. But after that, it’s fairly uncertain, plus they have to learn to succeed without Kitts.

“Chloe Kitts is a dog,” Staley said. “We just have to do it a different way.” 

Every year, I make this same disclaimer: Dawn Staley uses exhibitions to experiment a little, so the lineups and rotations we see Friday night might not be what we see on November 3 against Grand Canyon.

Still, we get an idea of what Staley and the coaching staff are thinking. Which players play well together? What are the substitution patterns? Does anyone get some run at a new position?

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3. The transfers
We get our first look at Ta’Niya Latson and Madina Okot in garnet and black for a game atmosphere. Both players are established commodities, but both are also being asked to do some things they weren’t asked to do at Florida State and Mississippi State, respectively. 

How does Latson fit in? Do she and Raven Johnson pick up like they are still in high school, running free for fastbreak layups? Is she able to produce within the team concept?

“This is my first time in CLA so I’m a little nervous,” Latson said on Thursday. “I’m just working through things. She has me seeing things that I haven’t seen on both ends of the floor. I feel like I can integrate what I do and also be a better player, a better playmaker, and a better teammate.”

Is Okot the intimidating big that South Carolina lacked last season? We’ve heard great things about how she has played in practice. Can she do it against another team?

4. The freshmen
We’re less certain what to expect from the two highly-touted freshmen, Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell. 

Staley has been pleased with their progress so far. But losing Chloe Kitts for the season means South Carolina only has 10 players. That speeds up the developmental timeline for one or both of the freshmen. 

South Carolina lists both Makeer and McDowell as 6-1 guards, but the Gamecocks need more depth at the three and four positions. Could that come from one of the freshmen? 

Both have reputations as good shooters, boosted by Makeer’s impressive showing in the three-point contest at GarNET & Black Madness, can one or both shoot the three efficiently enough to replace Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall?

Makeer has shown potential as a lockdown defender, but is she as disruptive on the college level?

“I want them to be them. I don’t want to put pressure on them because they put enough pressure on themselves,” Staley said. “They’re super talented. They are confident. They’ve been holding their own.”

5. Rule Changes
There are several rule changes this season. Most are minor, dealing with uniform specifications and administrative details. There are small changes to how traveling and “hot stove” touches are officiated.

The biggest change is the addition of coaches’ challenges. Fouls can’t be challenged, but calls like out-of-bounds and backcourt violations can. 

If I’m Staley, I challenge the first out-of-bounds call of the season just to break the ice. 

For more information on the rules changes, read HERE.

The Ws
Who: #2 South Carolina vs Anderson
When: 7:00 ET, Friday, October 24
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, SC
Tickets are free. There is no television or radio coverage. GamecockCentral will have live coverage on the new Women’s Basketball Forum.

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