South Carolina women’s basketball: Three things we learned against Wofford
South Carolina beat Wofford on Sunday in the final tune-up before conference play begins on Thursday. Here are three things we learned from the Gamecocks’ dominant showing.
1. Get on the Joyce Edwards Bandwagon while there is still room
The freshman failed to score a new career high for the third game in a row (she was close: Edwards missed two layups and a free throw in the second half that would have given her a new personal best), but she still led South Carolina in scoring with 16 points.
Edwards is now averaging 11.0 points, second on the team, plus 5.1 rebounds and a team-high 20 steals. She’s still just beginning to tap into her full arsenal, too. There was the driving reverse layup to end the first half to add to the post-ups and the transition baskets. Edwards isn’t shooting many jump shots, but it’s coming.
SEC play will present a different challenge, but Edwards seems more than ready for it.
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2. Ashlyn Watkins is all the way back
Watkins had six points, eight rebounds, four blocks, and two steals against Wofford. She did it all in just 17 minutes as Dawn Staley opted to give Maryam Dauda the fourth quarter.
There were a few times Watkins got out of position on defense, but that’s the tradeoff for her chasing blocked shots. The threat of her shot-blocking forced probably a half-dozen other misses.
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Watkins and Edwards form a formidable second unit in the front court that few opponents (I can’t think of any off the top of my head) can match. It reminds me of the 2015 Final Four team. Watkins and Edwards aren’t the same type of players as A’ja Wilson and Alaina Coates, but the impact is similar.
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3. Tessa Johnson will be fine
Johnson had a couple of quiet games, scoring a combined nine points against USF and Charleston Southern. She got off to a slow start against Wofford, missing her first four three-point attempts, but still finished with 14 points. Johnson adjusted to the early misses by attacking the rim and then working the mid-range game.
She also had three rebounds, two steals, and five assists, which led the Gamecocks and tied her career-high. Staley called a couple of out-of-bounds plays for Johnson and she delivered both times. It was a welcome reminder of how good Johnson can be when needed.
