No. 3 South Carolina WBB dominates Alabama in SEC opener. Three main takeaways
South Carolina women’s basketball kicked off the new year and SEC play with a win Thursday at Colonial Life Arena.
Dawn Staley and the No. 3 Gamecocks beat Alabama 83-57 to improve to 14-1 (1-0 SEC) on the year.
The Gamecocks had four players who scored in double digits. Joyce Edwards led all scorers with 25 points. Raven Johnson scored 17, Madina Okot scored 11 and Tessa Johnson had 10.
South Carolina shot 50% as a team and held Alabama to just 36.7% from the field and 31% from 3-point range. The Gamecocks out-rebounded Alabama 43-29.
A typical South Carolina-Alabama battle
South Carolina hasn’t lost to Alabama since 2008. Despite that, Staley spoke recently on how her teams have, historically, had trouble creating separation on the scoreboard with Alabama until late in games.
For a moment, it looked as if that would be the case Thursday.
The Gamecocks led by as many as 14 in the first half, but a strong ending to the second quarter from Alabama cut South Carolina’s lead to six going into halftime. South Carolina responded with a 7-2 run to start the second half and brought its lead back to double digits.
Staley didn’t have to wait much longer for her squad to build up more cushion, as South Carolina ultimately held Alabama to just 10 points in the third quarter and built its lead to over 20 points in the period. South Carolina led by as many as 32 points.
“We had to make some adjustments because they were burning us with certain low shot clock plays that you need halftime just to make adjustments,” Staley said. “They’re good, they’re better than what the score says. They truly are. They execute their plays. It took us having to adjust two or three times in order for us to really just kind of disrupt what they wanted to do.”
Ta’Niya Latson out, Agot Makeer in
Star guard Ta’Niya Latson missed the game with a lower leg injury. She was seen on the bench in street clothes and a boot on her left foot.
“She’s day to day,” Staley said. “It’s a sprain. It’s her pain tolerance, and it’s the ankle that she rolled earlier this season, and it just got irritated again.”
With Latson out, Staley slid freshman Agot Makeer into the starting lineup. Thursday’s matchup with Alabama was Makeer’s second game back after she missed a month in concussion protocol.
Makeer finished with nine points and four rebounds in 20 minutes of action.
“The decision was we got to get her going, that’s one,” Staley said of starting Makeer. “Two, it’s usually probably Maddy (McDaniel). But I didn’t want to put out both point guards in the game at once. Because a lot of times we play our point guards heavy minutes. So we just wanted to have an opportunity to bring someone in off the bench that really understands what we’re doing.”
South Carolina’s guards in general stepped up in Latson’s absence. Raven Johnson had one of her best offensive performances of the year, Tessa Johnson was a steady presence on the floor and both McDaniel and Ayla McDowell came off the bench and played well on both sides of the ball .
After the game, Staley gave extra flowers to McDaniel, whom the players affectionately call “Mouse,” for her play. McDaniel finished with six points, two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
“Mouse — I think she played the best game,” Staley said. “This was by far her best game on both sides of the basketball, and we need her to get going in. It was the best of both worlds.”
Gamecock of the game: Raven Johnson
Veteran point guard Raven Johnson got the nod for South Carolina’s best player in the game against Alabama.
Johnson set a new season high Sunday with 17 points. She scored 15 of those in the first half. She entered the game averaging nine points per game, and her performance came at the perfect time as Latson, USC’s second-leading scorer, was out.
“I just knew she would do exactly what she did,” Staley said. “Raven really gets excited about SEC play. She knows the importance of it. … She does not like losing because she hasn’t done that a whole lot over her career.”
Johnson was 7 for 10 from the field and also had a 3-pointer. She also recorded five assists and four rebounds.
Honorable mention goes to Edwards, who recorded yet another 20-point game.
South Carolina WBB’s next four games
- Sunday at Florida, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 8 at Arkansas, 7:30 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)
- Jan. 11 vs. Georgia, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)
- Jan. 15 vs. Texas, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
This story was originally published January 1, 2026 at 3:47 PM.
