South Carolina women's basketball: Rapid Reaction - Southern Cal

South Carolina stifled Southern Cal for a 69-52 win in Los Angeles. Here’s what stood out from the game.

– Madina Okot has quietly become the player South Carolina was looking for when it recruited her out of the portal. After putting up 12 points and just four rebounds against Grand Canyon, Okot had 13 points and 11 rebounds against Bowling Green, 12 points and 12 rebounds against Clemson, and six points and 15 rebounds on Saturday. She was also a key factor in South Carolina’s stifling defense in ways that don’t show up in the box score.

She can still get better. There are too many times when Okot tries to make a finesse play when she would be better off just being tall and strong, which she is. And the Gamecocks can involve her more; they aren’t doing a great job getting her the ball in position to score (again, throw it high and go be tall at the rim).

– I predicted that Ta’Niya Latson would win SEC Player of the Year, but this might be an A’ja Wilson-Tiffany Mitchell situation where the sophomore steals it from the senior. 

Latson still seems to be having trouble learning how to pick her spots this season. While she’s figuring that out, Joyce Edwards has become South Carolina’s best player. Edwards has improved her rebounding and defense, and her aggression on offense has made her South Carolina’s centerpiece. 

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Edwards had 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks against Southern Cal, one of the best all-around games of her career. Now about that 3-8 free throw shooting…

– The thing I was most looking forward to with this game was the two freshmen, Jazzy Davidson and Agot Makeer, potentially being matched up. They are both tall, long, and athletic. Davidson, who had 21 points including the game-winner against NC State, is a better offensive player, but Makeer has already established herself as a strong defender.

Davidson got into early foul trouble that limited her playing time, but Dawn Staley still put Makeer on Davidson a lot. It didn’t disappoint and Makeer more than held her own. 

South Carolina won the matchup, holding the explosive Davidson to eight points, on on 4-11 shooting with four turnovers. It was a team effort, though. The Gamecocks did a good job of funnelling Davidson into their rim-protecting posts, usually Okot. 

After a shaky defensive start to the season, it was good to see South Carolina flex its defensive muscle again.

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