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South Carolina women's basketball: The 3-2-1 - Clutch players, burning questions, and a favorite play from Las Vegas

On3 imageby: Chris Wellbaum12/02/25ChrisWellbaum

Last week, South Carolina split a pair of games at the Players Era Championship. Here are three clutch players, two burning questions, and a favorite play from the week in Las Vegas.

Three Clutch Players

Madina Okot
vs Duke: 31 minutes*, 23 points, 13 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists, 2 blocks
vs Texas: 34 minutes*, 12 points, 11 rebounds, assist, steal, block

Okot was sensational against Duke, and then outplayed the vaunted Texas frontcourt before fouling out. Okot has been the imposing big that South Carolina was missing last season, and so much more. She is a good ball-handler for her size and passes the ball well. 

Joyce Edwards
vs Duke: 32 minutes*, 22 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals
vs Texas: 31 minutes*, 16 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, block

Dawn Staley challenged Edwards to be a better all-around player this season, and she has responded. Edwards isn’t just scoring points; she’s setting up her teammates, playing defense, and coming through in the clutch.

Raven Johnson
vs Duke: 25 minutes*, 10 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds 
vs Texas: 35 minutes*, 7 points, 6 assists, 2 steals, block

Johnson has been the consummate point guard. She is scoring enough to keep defenses honest while focusing on setting up her teammates. Johnson has also been an elite defender, and she shut down Madison Booker for three quarters.

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Two Burning Questions

1. What happened to the bench production?

Adhel Tac gave South Carolina quality minutes in Las Vegas, and Maddy McDaniel had moments despite limited playing time. But the bench production went from very little against Duke to almost non-existent against Texas.

Agot Makeer had played at least 16 minutes in every game this season, but played just three minutes against the Longhorns. Ayla McDowell played five minutes but missed all three shot attempts and had just one rebound. 

South Carolina’s reserves are very inexperienced, with two freshmen and two sophomores who hardly played last season. The only senior, Maryam Dauda, barely played last year after transferring. Inconsistency is to be expected with inexperience, but a total of two points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks is not enough.

2. Are the Gamecocks good students?

“I’m not upset at all at this game. This is going to help us because there are a lot of things to unpack in it,” Dawn Staley said after the loss to Texas. She mentioned there were lessons to be learned a couple more times, and South Carolina gets a full week of practice and rest before its next game at Louisville.

The Cardinals are ranked 22nd in this week’s AP Poll. They should be able to give the Gamecocks a good challenge, and if they haven’t learned from the mistakes against the Longhorns, the Cardinals could definitely hand the Gamecocks a second consecutive loss.

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One Favorite Play

Madina Okot actually had several plays in Las Vegas where she showed off her ball-handling skills. We can argue over which one was the most impressive, but it’s pretty incredible to see a 6-6 get the ball behind the arc and score on a dribble-drive. Okot played on Kenya’s 3X3 national team, and she’s putting those all-around skills to work.

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