South Carolina women's basketball: Frontcourt powers win over Duke

South Carolina spotted Duke an early lead, but a huge second-quarter run and monster games from Madina Okot and Joyce Edwards powered an 81-66 win on day one of the Players Era Championship.

For the second time in three games, Edwards and Okot topped 20 points. Okot tied her career-high of 23 points and recorded a double-double, this time grabbing 13 rebounds. She also had four steals and two blocks.

“We all know Madina’s a great player. We knew coming in that she was going to be a star,” Edwards said. “She’s finally coming into her true self. She’s dominant in the paint, defense, and offense.”

Edwards had a dominant all-around game, netting 22 points, six rebounds, and three steals. She tied her career-high with six assists, and hit clutch baskets in the second half to keep Duke at arm’s length. 

“You just see the floor,” Edwards said. “I’ve been playing basketball for a long time. When you drive by somebody, you know somebody else is coming. If you know somebody else is coming, you see where they’re coming from, and you pass it. It’s that simple.”

Whether it was jet lag, Duke’s defense, or too much time in the casino (joking!), South Carolina got off to a slow start on Wednesday. The offense couldn’t get the ball inside, whether passing or driving, and Duke was uncharacteristically shooting nearly 50% from the floor. 

It was enough for Duke to take a 15-7 lead late in the first quarter, and enough to give the Gamecocks flashbacks to the ugly game in Birmingham in the Elite Eight. Only this time, Chloe Kitts, the hero of that game, was sitting on the bench in street clothes, sidelined by a torn ACL.

But then South Carolina settled down and got more deliberate on offense, trying to push the ball to score before Duke could set it defense. It worked, and the Gamecocks finished the quarter on a 7-0 run, capped by Madina Okot outrunning everyone for a fast break layup. 

“We almost fell for the bait by taking jump shot after jump shot after jump shots,” Dawn Staley said. “It was a matter of time before we could see what they were giving us and understanding if you could get by somebody, go. If you can’t, kick it out and let’s try to get ahead of the possession.”

That run helped South Carolina survive Duke’s early punch. The next run had the Blue Devils staggering. 

In the final 3:24 of the second quarter, South Carolina outscored Duke 11-0, part of an overall 17-0 run spanning halftime. Duke missed all five of its shots and committed three turnovers to end the quarter (plus two more to start the third).

South Carolina got its fast-break offense going during that run and built a 19-point lead.

Duke answered with a 9-0 run, but the deficit was too much for the offensively-challenged Blue Devils to overcome. 

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South Carolina followed a simple plan in the second half. Sprinkle in some more runouts, but mostly, just get the ball to Okot or Edwards and let them create. More times than not, they scored or set up a teammate.

““It’s growing every day. We knew that they had to build chemistry. They hadn’t played with each other for a long time,” Staley said. “We had to be forceful and let them know, communicate that.”

“I’m not big into rankings or anything like that, but they’ve got to be one of the top frontcourts in America,” Kara Lawson said. “When you look at the talent of both of them together, (…) They’re really, really good and tough to defend.”

South Carolina shot 47% and held Duke to 39%. South Carolina took 13 more shots thanks to 15 offensive rebounds that led to 14 second-chance points. 

“They were able to mount that lead going into halftime, that double-digit lead, it was on the back of 22 extra possessions,” Lawson said. “It was hard for us to box them out and limit them to one shot.”

South Carolina needed the production because guards Ta’Niya Latson and Tessa Johnson had off days. Latson scored 12 points on 6-13 shooting, and Johnson had five points on 2-6 shooting.

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Raven Johnson picked up the slack with 10 points, six assists, and five rebounds. 

Toby Fournier led Duke with 16 points. Riley Nelson had 14 points. 

Notes:

Former Gamecock Te-Hina Paopao attended the game. … The Gamecocks could have used Paopao: they shot just 1-10 from three, missing their first nine until Tessa Johnson hit one with 2:11 left. … There were three three-second violations called during the game. … The Gamecocks had 24 fast break points and only allowed the Blue Devils to get eight. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a black hoodie with a silver “DS.” … South Carolina’s next game is on Thursday against Texas at 8:00 ET.

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