South Carolina women’s basketball freshman exits game after apparent leg injury
The top player from the South Carolina women’s basketball 2021 class exited the Gamecocks’ second game of the season with a knee injury.
Freshman Raven Johnson, the No. 1 point guard and No. 2 overall player nationally in 2021, left the game after her left leg bent awkwardly as she cut to the basket with 3:57 to go in the first quarter of South Carolina’s game against South Dakota in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. She was helped off the floor and went to the locker room.
Details of the injury were not available Friday night, though Johnson returned to the sideline with a brace on her leg after halftime.
“We really haven’t had time to talk to our medical staff, so we’re going to wait until she can get seen when we get back and we’ll find the extent of her injury,” coach Dawn Staley said afterward.
Staley, watching the play transpire from the bench, said her view of Johnson’s fall was obstructed and that she expected to watch a video replay of the injury at some point Friday night.
“I didn’t see exactly what happened,” Staley said.
The Gamecocks pulled away for a 72-41 win to improve to 2-0.
Senior guard Destanni Henderson, who scored 15 points to lead USC, discussed staying focused after seeing a teammate go down with an injury.
“It’s just mental ... just to stay focused and dialed in while we are still playing the game and just make sure we support her when we get back,” Henderson said.
Johnson was a key member of the Gamecocks’ No. 1 recruiting class and played 8 minutes in South Carolina’s season-opening win over N.C. State on Tuesday.
Fellow freshman Saniya Rivers traveled but did not dress out for the South Dakota game due to an undisclosed illness. Rivers did not play in the Gamecocks’ season opener.
This story was originally published November 12, 2021 at 8:31 PM.
