Te-Hina Paopao and Joyce Edwards rebound against Florida
No. 4 South Carolina’s annual Play 4 Kay game against Florida was not only a bounce-back from the team as a whole from Sunday’s loss to Texas, but much-needed good days for Joyce Edwards and Te-Hina Paopao.
The duo combined for 17 points in Sunday’s road loss to Texas. On Thursday, they combined for 32 points in the opening half.
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The Gamecocks’ opening possession lasted a staggering 49 seconds. It was Paopao’s tone-setting three that broke the scoring seal. Paopao then followed that up by scoring or assisting on 14 of the Gamecocks’ next 20 points.
Head coach Dawn Staley calls Paopao a winner. She said with this being her last season in college, she wants ensure she’s giving it all for her team.
“She’s an elevator, like she elevates our team,” Staley said.
Paopao’s efforts saw her collect a season-high in assists (6) and rebounds (6) before the game hit halftime. The senior guard also shot a perfect 5-5 from the field, with four of those shots coming from beyond the arc.
“We want the ball in her hands, we want her coming off screens, we want her playmaking for us, along with putting the ball in the hole,” Staley said. “Especially outside the three but also facilitating … Pao just took more of an effort to play-make today and we need that.”
Paopao entered Thursday’s contest having shot 4-12 from beyond the arc in her last three games. She also had not made four threes in a game since South Carolina’s loss to No. 1 UCLA on Nov. 24. She came out the other side of it with a 4-5 night.
Thursday’s contest saw Paopao shoot above 50% from the field and from three for the first time since Jan. 12 against Texas.
“When Pao hits a three, that seems to kind of allow all of us to exhale because she’s been that important to us from an offensive standpoint,” Staley said.
During Wednesday’s media availability, head coach Dawn Staley said Edwards needed to be able to “turn the page” after Sunday’s lackluster performance.
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Edwards said her mindset in turning the page was just to take it game by game.
“Obviously Texas was, you know, a little rough but you watch film and learn from it,” Edwards said. “In every situation, you learn and I feel that’s what I did that today.”
The freshman responded by scoring eight of South Carolina’s last ten points in the opening quarter and the first four in the second. By halftime, Edwards already had 18 points on the evening, more than her last two games combined (15).
“A loss really makes me lock in,” Edwards said. “I feel like the word after that loss was toughness, you don’t know how tough you are until you get punched down.”
While Paopao cooled down in the second half, Edwards kept going. Edwards again scored a team-high 10 points in the second half on 50% shooting from the field. Edwards carried the team heading into the fourth, scoring six of the last eight points to end the third.
In her elevated role in the absence of Ashlyn Watkins, Staley isn’t shocked in Edwards’ ability to step up.
“This is how she is as a human being, like she wants to be the best at everything she does,” Staley said.
When the final buzzer sounded, The freshman had a career-high 28 points, the first freshman in Gamecock history to achieve that total in an SEC game. She also became the first freshman since Kelsey Bone in 2009 (32) to score that many points in any game.
