South Carolina WBB gives a sneak peek of future in NCAA win over Tennessee Tech
About midway through the third quarter of No. 1 seed South Carolina’s 108-48 shellacking of No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech in the NCAA Tournament on Friday, there was a full lineup change.
The Gamecocks’ starters — Raven Johnson, Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin — were all swapped out for the second unit of Maddy McDaniel, Tessa Johnson, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Joyce Edwards and Maryam Dauda.
Coach Dawn Staley said part of the change was due to a slow start (USC scored just three points in the first 3.5 minutes of the second half) but also because she wanted to see the bench unit play together.
“We were up big and lended an opportunity for us to get our second unit in,” Staley said. “They play a lot together in practice. So I wanted to see what they would do in that situation and see if they could energize us.”
And energize the team they did.
South Carolina’s bench unit ended the final six-ish minutes of the third quarter on a 22-8 run and gave the Gamecocks an 85-37 lead going into the fourth quarter of the first round game.
Staley more than likely has a few more games to play with her current starters, but in that moment Friday it felt like the crowd was getting a sneak peek at the future of the South Carolina women’s basketball program.
“It’s amazing, I get the chills thinking about that,” Feagin said.
“They went out there and stayed disciplined. They went out there, they played hard, they attacked, they made the easy plays, they passed the ball a lot,” Feagin continued.
It was just the fifth time the lineup of McDaniel, Tessa Johnson, Fulwiley, Edwards and Dauda has seen the floor this season, according to CBB Analytics. That lineup practices together, but has logged just 11 minutes of action in an actual game this season.
“That’s who I practice with in practice every day,” Edwards said. “So it was nothing different, but it just felt good out there with them. We have a lot of chemistry because we practice together all the time. So we just came out and executed.”
The bench ultimately led the way for South Carolina. The Gamecocks’ 66 bench points were the most in an NCAA Tournament game since 2000. Edwards led the team with 22 points.
Tessa Johnson led South Carolina in minutes with 24. Edwards was right behind her with 22. Those kinds of minutes are normal for Johnson and Edwards — who both average 21 per game, respectively — but for a player like McDaniel, who played a near career-high 18 minutes, they mean even more for development.
“It was definitely a good feeling to get out there and get my feet wet and be able to showcase my talents,” McDaniel said.
Fulwiley said she knows the bench unit can be special simply based on how freshmen like Edwards and McDaniel have played this year.
“I’m just scared for our opponents next year,” Fulwiley said. “… We take pride in our role. We don’t like to downplay it at all. We just lift each other up, because we know next year that’ll be us in those (starters’) shoes.”
Friday was by no means a passing-of-the-torch-moment, but it was certainly a look into a not-so-distant future of South Carolina women’s basketball without Feagin, Hall, Paopao and possibly Raven Johnson.
The players won’t get too far ahead of themselves, but combining the bench unit with returning veteran talent like Kitts and even Ashlyn Watkins should make South Carolina fans excited.
“It just shows how deep we are and it’s nice to see a little glimpse of next year because, lowkey, next year is soon,” Kitts said.
This story was originally published March 21, 2025 at 7:52 PM with the headline "South Carolina WBB gives a sneak peek of future in NCAA win over Tennessee Tech."
