South Carolina women's basketball Rapid Reaction: Oklahoma
South Carolina advanced to the SEC tournament final for the sixth consecutive season with a 93-75 win over Oklahoma. Here’s what stood out from the game.
– South Carolina was never able to completely slam the door on Oklahoma, but it didn’t feel like the quarterfinal game when South Carolina couldn’t put away Vanderbilt. On Friday, South Carolina let Vanderbilt back in the game with careless, unfocused play.
It never felt like the Gamecocks lost focus on Saturday. The credit goes to the Sooners for continuing to battle and never giving up.
Oklahoma had one 6-0 run to pull within 10 points late in the third quarter, but Joyce Edwards crushed the run with a three-point play that sparked a 9-0 Gamecoock run. The win never felt in jeopardy after that.
It may not have been as impressive as the 41-point win over the Sooners earlier in the season, but it was a pretty emphatic win.
– It’s a little concerning that South Carolina shot 2-15 from three, but I was more impressed with how deliberately and relentlessly the Gamecocks got to the rim. They drew 22 fouls, hit 19-24 from the line, and were 15-27 on layups.
The Gamecocks did all that despite the fact that for much of the first half, the officials were letting Oklahoma get away with some pretty obvious hacks on layups.
Top 10
- 1New
Top 25 College QBs
Ranking best '25 signal callers
- 2
Top 25 Defensive Lines
Ranking the best for 2025
- 3
Big Ten Football
Predicting 1st loss for each team
- 4Hot
College Football Playoff
Ranking Top 32 teams for 2025
- 5Trending
Tim Brando
Ranks Top 15 CFB teams for 2025
Get the Daily On3 Newsletter in your inbox every morning
By clicking "Subscribe to Newsletter", I agree to On3's Privacy Notice, Terms, and use of my personal information described therein.
Stay on top of all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer today!
I asked Edwards, who officially drew six fouls, but it was really more like 10, about the non-calls. She gave a knowing grin, but said “It doesn’t matter.”
“We just did what the defense gave us,” she said. “The midrange was open with (Raegan) Beers dropping back in the paint and the posts executed.”
– I can’t talk about this game without mentioning Maryam Dauda. Griffin Goodwyn has more on her, so I’ll be brief. Who imagined going into the game that she would nearly play Raegan Beers to a draw?
Beers had seven points on 2-10 shooting plus eight rebounds and a block, but four turnovers. In half as many minutes, Dauda had five points, three rebounds, three steals, two blocks, and drew three fouls.
Dauda is beloved by her teammates. You say “Maryam,” and everyone starts smiling. It’s nice when good things happen to good people.
