South Carolina women's basketball: Tessa Johnson is having a breakout season because she "plays the right way"

There’s an adage that says you never really appreciate someone until they are gone. It could be referring to Tessa Johnson.

During a timeout in South Carolina’s sometimes sloppy 106-42 win over NC Central, point guard Raven Johnson said, “I miss Tessa.”

Tessa Johnson wasn’t exactly gone; she was merely out sick, but the saying applies.

“So do I, Ray,” Dawn Staley replied. Then she snapped back, “But we got what we got. We got Ayla (McDowell). Pass the ball to Ayla.”

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Tessa Johnson has accomplished more than most players in her first two seasons. It would take too long to list them all, but the career-high in the national championship game to cap off an undefeated season tells you what we’re talking about.

Johnson’s performance in that postseason earned her the moniker “Tournament Tessa,” and she lived up to it again as a sophomore. Still, it’s doubtful anyone in the Gamecock huddle said, “I miss Tessa” the last two years.

Part of that was due to South Carolina’s depth. With veterans and future WNBA players like Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall ahead of Johnson in the rotation, it was easy to replace her minutes. But part of it was, by her own admission, Johnson’s inconsistency.

As a sophomore, Johnson averaged 8.4 points in 21.2 minutes, along with 2.2 rebounds and 1.5 assists. She shot 47.4% overall and 43.0% from three. Those were solid numbers, and an improvement in nearly every category compared ot her freshman season.

But nobody was satisfied. There were too many games where Johnson was a non factor. That left Staley publicly pleading for “Tournament Tessa” to make an appearance late in the season.

“I think she had a subpar sophomore year,” Staley said at SEC Tipoff in October. “It wasn’t like what she probably anticipated. So you’ve got to have those conversations with her about, hey, it’s time to take the next step.”

A month into the season, Johnson has responded. She is averaging career highs in every category: 13.1 points, 51.1% shooting, 48.8% from three (which would be the second-best season average in program history), 3.1 rebounds, and 2.9 assists. Johnson has scored in double figures in all but two games.

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Most importantly, Johnson has been aggressive. She has looked for her shot, whether it’s an open three or a drive to the basket, and looked to set up her teammates. Johnson had a season-high 20 points against Louisville.

But don’t tell Tessa she’s playing aggressively. 

“No. We all just came in with the mindset of winning,” she said. “The ball just happened to find my hands, and they went in.”

To Staley, it wasn’t that simple. She saw Johnson read the game situation and do what the situation dictated. In that case, it was trying to score.

“Tessa plays the right way, and we needed that in the first half,” Staley said. “Just play the right way, and sometimes playing the right way is an aggressive Tessa. In the Louisville game, aggressive. It didn’t take very long. The ball wasn’t in her hands very long before she made a decision, and a lot of times it was just shooting the ball, which she’s very capable of doing. Other than that, she just plays the right way. She doesn’t get sped up. She playmakes.”

Johnson is driving with the ball more than ever before. It’s the natural progression as opponents focus on taking away her three-point looks, although she isn’t happy about missing some of those layups.

“No, I missed my layups today. Oh, my word,” Johnson said. “I’m just trying to read the defense as best as I can, and it happened to be my layups.”

Staley can live with that for now because it’s a new role for Johnson. Like most of her teammates, Johnson is still finding her footing, and it hasn’t stopped her from making Clutch threes in the fourth quarters against Texas and Louisville.

“I think she’s cautious, but we all know what her capabilities are,” Staley said. “We all know she can shoot the ball; she can score. She can pass it. Her defense is real respectable. You’re seeing a lot more mature Tessa.”

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