South Carolina women's basketball: The first month of the season by the numbers

The first month of the season is over, along with roughly one-third of the schedule. Some statistical trends are starting to take shape.

Joyce Edwards is averaging 19.4 points, and Ta’Niya Latson is averaging 17.8 points. Both are averaging the most points by a Gamecock since A’ja Wilson averaged 22.6 points in 2017-18. They have the second and fourth-highest averages of any Gamecock under Dawn Staley (Wilson has the first and third).

Madina Okot is averaging 14.8 points and 11.1 rebounds. She would be the fourth Gamecock under Staley to average a double-double, following Alaina Coates (twice), Wilson, and Aliyah Boston (twice).

Okot ranks 17th nationally in field goal percentage, hitting 60.95% of her shots. She is 11th in rebounds per game, 0.01 behind 10th place. Okot has seven double-doubles this season. She is tied for the most in the nation with Oklahoma’s Raegan Beers and Murray State’s Sharnecce Currie-Jelks. Okot played just 11 minutes on Sunday and was one rebound short of her eighth double-double.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball! 🏀

Tessa Johnson is averaging 13.1 points, giving South Carolina four players averaging in double figures. Under Staley, South Carolina had four players average double figures for four consecutive seasons from 2016-17 to 2019-20, but that is it.

Edwards was South Carolina’s leading scorer last season with 12.7 points. Four of South Carolina’s five starters this season are averaging more than that. Edwards has raised her scoring average by 6.7 points, her shooting percentage from 52.9% to 57.7%, her rebounding by 1.1, raised her assists from 1.2 to 2.9, and her blocks from 0.5 to 1.5.

Raven Johnson is averaging 6.6 assists, with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.7. The single-season assists average record is 7.3, by Mindy Ballou in 1983-84. Second place is 6.7, by Cristina Ciocan in 2002-03. Johnson is on pace to break the assist-to-turnover record of 3.2, set by Harris in 2018-19.

Johnson is averaging career-highs in points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, assists, and blocks.

Nationally, Johnson ranks seventh in assist-to-turnover ratio and 13th in assists. As a team, South Carolina’s ratio is 1.59, which ranks 11th nationally. South Carolina’s 19.6 assists per game rank 15th.

Tessa Johnson is shooting 48.8% (21-43) from three. That would be the second-best single-season shooting percentage in program history, behind Tiffany Mitchell’s 54.1% in 2013-14. 

Johnson is also eligible for South Carolina’s career three-point records, and her current career percentage of 44.2% just barely trails Karen Middleton’s 44.5% for the best career mark. Johnson is also on pace to enter South Carolina’s top ten for career threes made by the end of the season.

Nationally, Johnson is 19th in three-point percentage. She is averaging career-highs in points, field goal percentage, three-point percentage, rebounds, assists, and blocks, and is 7-7 from the line this season. Last season, Johnson attempted 2.9 three-point attempts per game. This season, she is attempting 4.8.

🏀 GamecocksW newsletter: WBB coverage delivered straight to your inbox!

As a team, South Carolina is averaging 90.1 points on 53.0% shooting. Both would be program records if they hold (which is unlikely). A better comparison might be last season, when South Carolina averaged 79.1 points on 46.5% shooting. Three-point shooting has increased from 34.0% to 43.1%.

South Carolina ranks 10th in points per game, fourth in field goal percentage, and third in three-point percentage.

After averaging just 5.7 blocks last season, South Carolina is up to 7.2 this season, which ranks fourth nationally. Last season was the first time since 2018-19 that South Carolina averaged less than 7.0 blocks per game, and the lowest average since 5.6 in 2016-17.

South Carolina is averaging 17.3 bench points, which is 252nd in the country. It’s a big change from last season, when the Gamecocks averaged over 40 points per game and led the nation.

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!