South Carolina women's basketball: Gamecocks in the WNBA - Regular season recap

The WNBA regular season is over, but eight Gamecocks are moving on to the playoffs. Get caught up on all the Gamecocks in the WNBA.

Oh, and A’ja Wilson set a bunch of records. Scroll down to her section for more.

Five of the eight playoff teams have former Gamecocks on the roster, and three have two Gamecocks. First-round series are best-of-three.

The matchups are:
(1) Minnesota vs (8) Golden State
(2) Las Vegas vs (7) Seattle
(3) Atlanta vs (6) Indiana
(4) Phoenix vs (5) New York

Atlanta Dream (30-14)
Allisha Gray
42 games (42 starts), 34.5 mpg, 18.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 3.5 apg, 1.1 spg
Gray finished the season with career-highs in minutes played, points, three-pointers made, rebounds, assists, and led Atlanta to the most wins in franchise history. Pretty, pretty, pretty good. Gray is probably in line for first-team All-WNBA recognition.

Last week:
vs Connecticut (87-62 win): 20 minutes*, 15 points, 6 rebounds
at Connecticut (88-72 win): 20 minutes* 13 points, 5 assists, 2 rebounds, block

Te-Hina Paopao
43 games (15 starts), 16.7 mpg, 5.8 ppg, 2.4 apg, 1.6 rpg, 38.6 3P%
Paopao might have hit the rookie wall, going 1-9 from three this week, but I’ve said that two or three times this season, and she’s always bounced back. She has a solid case to make the All-Rookie team, and she’s made a lot of teams look foolish for letting her drop to the second round.

Last week:
vs Connecticut (87-62 win): 15 minutes, 5 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, 1-4 3PT
at Connecticut (88-72 win): 30 minutes*, 6 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, 2 steals, block, 0-5 3PT

Upcoming games:
Sunday, September 14 vs Indiana (3:00 ET, ABC) – Game 1
Tuesday, September 16 at Indiana (7:30 ET, ESPN) – Game 2
Thursday, September 18 vs Indiana (TBD, ESPN2) – Game 3 (If Necessary)

Chicago Sky (10-34)
Kamilla Cardoso
40 games (39 starts), 27.6 mpg, 13.6 ppg, 8.5 rpg, 2.5 apg, 1.2 bpg, 52.8 FG%
Cardoso got off to a slow start to the season, but since her AmeriCup break at the end of June, Cardoso has been tremendous. She raised her stats in every category from her rookie season (including finishing fourth in the league in rebounding) despite basically the same playing time. The Sky franchise is a mess, but it can build around Cardoso.

Last week:
at Las Vegas (92-61 loss): 33 minutes*, 13 points, 13 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks
vs New York (91-86 loss): 36 minutes*, 21 points, 5 rebounds, 4 blocks, 2 assists, steal

Upcoming games:
Chicago’s season is over.

Dallas Wings (10-34)
Tyasha Harris
5 games, 16.5 mpg, 4.6 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 45.5 3P%
Harris injured her left knee against Connecticut on May 27. Initially, there was optimism that it wasn’t long-term, but unfortunately, Harris underwent season-ending surgery on June 10.

Golden State Valkyries (23-21)
Laeticia Amihere
29 games, 13.3 mpg, 5.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 0.9 apg
Amihere’s playing time was inconsistent down the stretch. But after being waived twice last offseason, including by Golden State, Amihere has proved she can play in the WNBA – without her contributions in the middle of the season, Golden State probably doesn’t make the playoffs. With two more teams joining next season, including her hometown Toronto, her place in the league seems safe

Last week:
at Seattle (74-73 loss): DNP-CD
at Minnesota (72-53 loss): 5 minutes, 3 points, rebound

Upcoming games:
Sunday, September 14 at Minnesota (1:00 ET, ESPN) – Game 1
Wednesday, September 17 vs Minnesota (10:00 ET, ESPN) – Game 2 (In San Jose)
Friday, September 19 at Minnesota (TBD, ESPN2) – Game 3 (If Necessary) 

Indiana Fever (24-20)
Aliyah Boston
44 games (44 starts), 30.2 mpg, 15.0 ppg, 8.2 rpg, 3.7 apg, 0.9 bpg, 1.2 spg, 53.8 FG%
Boston set Indiana’s single-season rebounding record, giving her the top three rebounding seasons in franchise history. Granted, there are more games in a season now than ever before, but Indiana has had some all-time greats in its history. Boston made a compelling case that she is the second-best center in the WNBA.

Last week:
Minnesota (83-72 win): 29 minutes*, 12 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

Bree Hall (first three games with Golden State)
4 games, 4.4 mpg, 0.8 ppg, 0.8 rpg
Hall didn’t play in Indiana’s only game this week, but both teams she played for this season made the playoffs. Coincidence? You decide.

Last week:
Minnesota (83-72 win): DNP-CD

Upcoming games:
Sunday, September 14 at Atlanta (3:00 ET, ABC) – Game 1
Tuesday, September 16 vs Atlanta (7:30 ET, ESPN) – Game 2
Thursday, September 18 at Atlanta (TBD, ESPN2) – Game 3 (If Necessary)

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Las Vegas Aces (30-14)
A’ja Wilson
40 games (40 starts), 31.2 mpg, 23.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.3 bpg, 1.6 spg, 42.4 3P%
Wilson capped her season with a monster game against the Sparks. She finished two points short of tying Jewel Loyd (2023 – 939) for the second-highest scoring season in WNBA history. As it is, Wilson has to settle for the highest (2024 – 1,021), third-highest (2025 – 937), and fifth-highest (2023 – 912). She has three seasons with more than 900 points. Loyd and Breanna Stewart (2023 – 919) have the only other 900-point season in league history. Wilson did it while setting a career-high for assists this season.

Wilson finished with 407 total rebounds, the third most ever. She set the single-season record last season with 451. She has two of the five seasons with at least 400 rebounds. (The total rebounds records are heavily skewed toward the more recent, longer seasons, but still…)

Wilson led the league in efficiency rating and now has three of the top five seasons of all time (each of the past three seasons). Wilson’s season average of 23.43 points is the seventh-highest in league history, and Wilson and Diana Taurasi are the only players with two seasons in the top ten. Wilson is also the leader in career scoring average with 21.1 points per game.

For the season, Wilson finished first in scoring and blocks average, second in rebounding average, and third in steals average. She led the league in efficiency rating, and her three-point percentage would have been tied for fifth if she had qualified.

Last week:
vs Chicago (92-61 win): 25 minutes*, 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 blocks, steal
at Los Angeles (103-75 win): 33 minutes*, 23 points, 19 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 blocks, 2 steals

Upcoming games:
Sunday, September 14 vs Seattle (10:00 ET, ESPN) – Game 1
Tuesday, September 16 at Seattle (9:30 ET, ESPN) – Game 2
Thursday, September 18 vs Seattle (TBD, ESPN2) – Game 3 (If Necessary)

Los Angeles Sparks (21-23)
Sania Feagin
15 games, 4.5 mpg, 1.1 ppg, 0.7 rpg, 0.4 bpg
Feagin got to play in both games in her hometown of Atlanta, although only briefly. She also saw action against Dallas.

Last week:
at Phoenix (88-83 win): DNP-CD
vs Las Vegas (103-75 loss): 9 minutes, 4 points, 2 assists

Upcoming games:
Los Angeles’ season is over.

Seattle Storm (23-21)
Zia Cooke
26 games, 10.0 mpg, 3.5 ppg, 0.5 apg, 0.5 rpg
Cooke did not play last week.

Last week:
vs Golden State (74-73 win): DNP-CD

Tiffany Mitchell (First 16 games with Las Vegas)
39 games (3 starts), 13.1 mpg, 3.2 ppg, 1.1 rpg
Mitchell did not appear in Seattle’s season finale.

Last week:
vs Golden State (74-73 win): DNP-CD

Upcoming games:
Sunday, September 14 at Las Vegas (10:00 ET, ESPN) – Game 1
Tuesday, September 16 vs Las Vegas (9:30 ET, ESPN) – Game 2
Thursday, September 18 at Las Vegas (TBD, ESPN2) – Game 3 (If Necessary)

Connecticut Sun (11-33)
Saniya Rivers
42 games, 26.1 minutes, 8.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.5 steals, 0.9 blocks
I didn’t include Rivers among the former Gamecocks throughout the season, but it’s worth checking in on her. Rivers’ mother passed away right before the season started, but she was able to regroup from the tragedy and put together a strong campaign. Like she was in college, Rivers was able to play multiple positions on both ends of the court and brought tough defense. She also set the Sun rookie record with 43 threes.

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