Joyce Edwards leads No. 3 South Carolina WBB to win over USF. Three takeaways
The South Carolina women’s basketball team started its Florida road trip off on the right foot Thursday night.
Dawn Staley and the No. 3 Gamecocks beat South Florida 103-44 at Yuengling Center in Tampa. With the win, South Carolina improves to 11-1 and is now on a four-game win streak.
Star sophomore forward Joyce Edwards scored a career-high 34 points in the matchup.
Edwards was one of five Gamecocks to reach double digits Thursday. Tessa Johnson scored 16 points, Ta’Niya Latson scored 15, Tessa Johnson scored 16 points, Raven Johnson scored 11 and Madina Okot scored 12. South Carolina’s starters combined for 88 points in the game.
All-around dominance
South Carolina showed no signs of struggle in the win over the Bulls.
The Gamecocks shot the lights out as a team. South Carolina finished the game with a 62.9% team field goal percentage; at one point, USC was shooting over 70% from the field. It’s the fifth time this season the Gamecocks have scored 100 or more points.
“I thought we were pretty locked in for 40 minutes,” Staley said. “There were very little, just lapses defensively when it came. Most proud of them, because even the ones that don’t play a whole lot, they were locked in and they were disciplined. “
South Carolina dominated in the paint. The Gamecocks out-rebounded USF 45-31 and scored a whopping 74 points in the paint compared to 28 for USF.
Staley’s defense forced 23 turnovers (and scored 38 points as a result) and limited South Florida to just a 30.6% clip from the field as a team.
Gamecock of the game: Joyce Edwards
South Carolina’s homegrown star was on fire against South Florida.
Edwards set a new career high with 34 points against the Bulls. This comes just four days after she reset her previous career high with a 29-point performance against Penn State on Sunday.
The sophomore was 14 for 15 from the field and tallied five rebounds against USF. Edwards started off hot with 19 points in the first half.
“Joyce is a competitor,” Staley said. “Joyce wants to score a lot of points, and she’s very capable of doing that. But Joyce isn’t just a scorer. She’s a really great playmaker. She can make the play that’s supposed to be made...She’s developing quite nicely. I think the most important thing about Joyce is she’s a competitor, she wants to win.”
Edwards, who entered the matchup averaging 20.3 points per game, has now scored more than 25 points in her last three games.
Madina Okot returns
South Carolina got its starting center back against USF.
Senior Okot returned to the starting lineup after missing USC’s game against Penn State last week. Okot left the prior game (versus NC Central) early.
Okot played 21 minutes and recorded a double-double in her return to action. She scored 12 points and brought in 10 rebounds.
The Gamecocks only dressed nine players for the game, per the ESPN broadcast. The only player who did not play was freshman guard Agot Makeer.
Makeer traveled with the team to Florida and was on the bench with the team Thursday but was not in uniform. She’s missed the last four games in concussion protocol.
South Carolina WBB’s next four games
- Saturday at Florida Gulf Coast, 2 p.m. (ESPN+)
- Dec. 28 vs, Providence, noon (SEC Network)
- Jan. 1 vs Alabama, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Jan. 4 at Florida, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
This story was originally published December 18, 2025 at 8:56 PM.
