Madina Okot’s showing vs. Bama the latest in resurgence for South Carolina forward
South Carolina senior forward Madina Okot announced to the world she’d broken out of her slump with a short message two weeks ago:
“I’m back.”
Okot’s declaration came after a 10-point, 16-rebound performance in a 93-50 win over Tennessee on Feb. 8. The performance was the latter of a pair of double-doubles in her return to South Carolina’s starting lineup.
Okot started her first year with the Gamecocks as an everyday starter for Dawn Staley . But she hit a bit of a slump in late January, prompting Staley to bring her off the bench in hopes it would relieve some pressure.
After three games, Okot returned to the starting lineup and fired off four consecutive double-doubles. The latest came Thursday night in South Carolina’s 76-57 win on the road at No. 25 Alabama.
“It’s normal for players to go through what I’m going through, or what I went through,” Okot said after beating Tennessee. “I’m just so grateful for my teammates and the coaching staff for being there for me. I needed the break to come off the bench. ... I feel like I had too much pressure and (Staley) had to take it off of me for some time.”
Okot only needed one half against the Crimson Tide to record her 17th double-double of the season. She notched 13 points and 10 rebounds in the first half alone. Okot finished with 16 points, 16 rebounds and tied her career high with four blocks.
South Carolina star forward Joyce Edwards, who had 23 points and 12 rebounds vs Alabama, said Okot’s improvement in the last four games boils down to better confidence.
“She just keeps playing,” Edwards told The State. “That’s all you can do. Everybody goes through natural slumps, highs and lows. But she just pushed through hers, and she’s playing wonderful now.”
Of Okot’s 16 points against the Crimson Tide, six came from beyond the arc. Okot has been a relative stranger to 3-point shooting in her career — the 3s vs Alabama were just her fourth and fifth ever — but she’s proven she can make them when it matters.
“She practices them all the time,” Staley said Thursday. “And there’s no need to just practice them, if there are opportunities for her to step out and shoot them, I feel very confident that she can knock them down. She feels confident that she can knock them down.
“And believe it or not, I do think Madina’s comfort level is facing the basket. We are making her get two feet in the paint and bury people in and probably her most comfortable place on the floor is probably facing up. So we want her to shoot more, whether they’re 3s or whether they’re 15-footers.”
Since returning to the starting lineup, Okot has recorded more than 15 rebounds on three separate occasions (vs. Tennessee, LSU and Alabama). In the last four games, Okot is averaging 12 points and 14.7 rebounds per game. That brings her season averages to 13.2 points and 10.7 rebounds, respectively.
For reference, in the prior five games (which included two starts and three games where she came off the bench) Okot was averaging 8.4 points and 6.4 rebounds per game.
What’s been the difference for Okot as of late? The reason, Staley said, is Okot being in a better mental space. She also credited South Carolina veteran point guard, and Okot’s roommate, Raven Johnson for helping bring her out of the slump.
“All players go through a time during the season where it’s just mentally draining, it’s physically draining,” Staley said. “But when it’s mental, it impacts the physical part of it. And I thought she hit her stretch a couple of games ago where nothing seemed to go right for her. I thought we just kind of did some adjustments in our offense to just give her some more direction as to where to be and it’s kind of working out for her. ... Now I think it’s just clearer and she’s just playing more aggressive basketball. That benefits us obviously.”
This story was originally published February 20, 2026 at 8:00 AM.
