South Carolina women's basketball: The 3-2-1 - Clutch players, burning questions, and a favorite play from the first week of the season

The first week of the season has come to an end. Here are the clutch players, burning questions, and a favorite play from South Carolina’s two big wins.

Three Clutch Players

Raven Johnson
vs Grand Canyon: 26 minutes*, 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover
vs Bowling Green: 23 minutes*, 11 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 turnovers

After flirting with a triple-double against Grand Canyon, Johnson notched her second career double-double, and her first points-assists double-double. Her other double-double was a 10-point, 12-rebound outing against UConn in 2024. Johnson worked on her shooting in the offseason, and has started the season 4-7 from three. She looks rejuvenated by the faster pace and having her best friend, Ta’Niya Latson, by her side. Best of all, Johnson only has three total turnovers.

Ta’Niya Latson
vs Grand Canyon: 28 minutes*, 20 points, 4 assists, 6 fouls drawn
vs Bowling Green: 31 minutes*, 17 points, 4 assists, 4 rebounds, 7-7 free throws

Latson has been exactly what South Carolina hoped she would be: a scoring machine. The most encouraging thing was that even though Latson’s shot was off early against Bowling Green, she still finished with 17 points on 5-11 shooting and made all seven of her free throws. It’s that ability to manufacture points that South Carolina missed last season.

Joyce Edwards
vs Grand Canyon: 27 minutes*, 13 points, 5 rebounds, assist, block
vs Bowling Green: 25 minutes*, 24 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks

After being relatively quiet against Grand Canyon, Edwards was determined to dominate against Bowling Green. She scored six of South Carolina’s first eight points to spark a 15-0 run, and never let up. She was also great at passing the ball to open teammates. Like Latson’s ability to manufacture points, it’s encouraging that a “quiet” game for Edwards is still 13 points and five rebounds.

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Two Burning Questions

How are the injured Gamecocks?

Maddy McDaniel left the game against Grand Canyon after banging knees with a defender and did not return. She went through warmups before the Bowling Green game, but did not play. Dawn Staley said she wouldn’t have played even in an emergency. 

Agot Makeer left the Bowling Green game late in the third quarter after either stepping on an opponent’s foot or being stepped on, and did not return to the bench for the remainder of the game. Staley said Makeer “wasn’t crying” and didn’t seem worried.

South Carolina needs both players healthy just to have enough bodies for a regular rotation, but McDaniel and Makeer are also expected to play significant roles this season. They may not be needed against Clemson, but it would be tough to face Southern Cal with only eight players. 

Is it good offense or bad opponents?

We know South Carolina’s offense is good. We also know that Grand Canyon and Bowling Green aren’t world beaters. But which played a bigger role in South Carolina averaging 104 points and 62% shooting over the first two games?

Staley said before the season that South Carolina can’t rely on scoring 90 points every game. Are we sure about that? 

There should be a bunch of points on Tuesday because Clemson likes to play uptempo, but Southern Cal is always a good defensive team. Let’s revisit the question after the Real SC game on November 15.

One Favorite Play

Raven Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson won a high school national championship together by doing one thing over and over: Latson would sprint to the basket as soon as they got the ball, and Johnson would find her for a layup. Five years later, they are at it again, hopefully with the same result.

EEEEEYYUUCCCKK 😮‍💨

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— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) November 8, 2025

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