Madina Okot, Ta’Niya Latson return to form in South Carolina’s rout of Vanderbilt
About 72 hours earlier, South Carolina was the talk of the college women’s basketball world — and not for good reasons.
The No. 2 Gamecocks had just been dealt their second loss of the season after No. 16 Oklahoma rode a late offensive spark to an upset victory in overtime.
How did Dawn Staley and company bounce back in their next game on Sunday? By dominating the fifth-ranked team in the country.
South Carolina (20-2, 6-1 SEC) put together an all-around performance and beat No. 5 Vanderbilt 103-74 in Colonia Life Arena. The win halted what had been a blazing hot start for the Commodores (20-1, 6-1 SEC), who were one of two remaining undefeated teams in the country.
A major factor in the win was the play of Madina Okot and Ta’Niya Latson, whose performances returned to the norm after they both struggled against Oklahoma.
Okot excels off the bench
Okot, who has been averaging a double-double this season, looked like a shell of herself against the Sooners. She played nine minutes in the first three quarters of the game and finished with six points and four rebounds.
Staley opted to move Okot to the bench against Vanderbilt and started another guard in freshman Agot Makeer. After the game, Staley said the smaller lineup allowed South Carolina to apply more pressure on defense and space the floor better on offense.
The move was also made in an attempt to take some pressure off of Okot, who has been tasked with being the next dominant South Carolina big this season — similar to USC greats A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston.
“We’re putting her in situations that we had players build to those moments,” Staley said. “A’ja [Wilson] built to that moment. Aliyah [Boston] built to that moment. They didn’t come in as freshmen and have to be the dominating big that they became. I know what that feels like. ... I can identify it, and we needed to just take a little bit off of her. She got good looks, and she probably feels a lot better about just seeing the ball go in and play the way that she played on both sides of the ball.”
Okot looked much more like herself against the Commodores. She flirted with a double-double, finishing with 17 points and seven rebounds (tied for a team-high). Okot also added five steals and a block to her stat line.
“I feel like it was a different presence for Madina out there,” said South Carolina guard Tessa Johnson, who scored 20 points . “...That’s the Madina that we’ve been missing. And I think she really picked it up, and it was good. It was good for her and for the team.”
Staley compared the move to bring Okot off the bench to the decision she made back when Wilson was playing at South Carolina. Wilson — now a four-time WNBA MVP whose jersey hangs in the rafters at Colonial Life and has a statue in her honor outside the arena — started just one game during her freshman year with the Gamecocks.
“Sometimes that’s all some players need, is a different look at it,” Staley said. “We did that with A’ja Wilson. Wilson started her first collegiate game. You could see the pressure to perform and you saw her wilt to that pressure. Then when we made the change to bring her off the bench, the entire crowd anticipated, A’ja anticipated, coming in and just doing all the things that she would normally do if she was a starter. So we just kind of took a page out of that book to make sure Madina gives us something.”
Latson gets back in the swing of things
Latson was pivotal against Vanderbilt after she was a non-factor against Oklahoma.
The veteran guard, who led the NCAA in scoring last year, had one of the worst performances of her career against the Sooners, scoring just six points and tying a career-low with just one made field goal in the game.
The poor showing motivated Latson to step up against the Commodores.
“I knew it wasn’t my best game,” Latson said. “I knew I had to bring more, especially going into a top five matchup and playing a team like Vandy. We had personal conversations, and we had to watch a lot of film. It’s just a learning experience. So I knew tonight I had to go out there and just be myself.”
Latson filled up the stat sheet on Sunday. She finished with a team-high 21 points on 8-for-15 shooting. Latson also finished with five rebounds, five assists and two steals.
It’s the first time Latson has scored 20 or more points this calendar year. The last time came when she scored 32 against North Carolina Central in December.
“She only wants to see herself play and perform at the highest level,” Staley said. “And when she’s anything but that, she makes adjustments. Her shots were falling today, she got to the rim, but she defended. Like she defended. When you’re able to play both sides of the ball and impact it that way, it’s only going to be good results. But you can see it, you can see her take her intensity and her ability to lock in to another level.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2026 at 8:12 PM.
