South Carolina women's basketball trio earn spots on Dawn Staley Award watch list

On Monday, a trio of South Carolina women’s basketball guards earned inclusion on the watch list for the Dawn Staley Award. Senior Te-Hina Paopao, redshirt junior Raven Johnson, and sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley each made the 17-player watch list. Paopao also was a top-5 finalist for the honor last season.

Named for the Gamecocks’ head coach, the Dawn Staley Award annually recognizes the guard whose excellent play most mirrors the game of the award’s namesake. Toughness, leadership, ballhandling, passing, defense, scoring, and overall competitiveness are all required to win the Dawn Staley Award.

This season, Paopao is averaging 10.4 points, 2.8 assists, and 2.4 rebounds. Johnson tallies 5.3 points, 3.0 assists, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.6 steals. Fulwiley averages 11.5 points, 1.8 assists, 2.8 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game. The trio also have combined to help the Gamecocks to a No. 6 ranking in the AP poll and No. 2 mark in the NET.

South Carolina women’s basketball legends Tiffany Mitchell and Ty Harris won the Dawn Staley Award in 2015 and 2020, respectively. Both Mitchell and Harris were multi-time nominees, as well.

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From the South Carolina Athletics release:

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball placed three guards on The Dawn Staley Award Later Season Watch List, the Phoenix. Club of Philadelphia announced today. Sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley, redshirt-junior Raven Johnson, and senior Te-Hina Paopao all made the 17-player list for the award that recognizes the player who exemplifies the skills that Staley possessed throughout her career – ball-handling, scoring, ability to distribute the basketball and the will to win.

Fulwiley is South Carolina’s second-leading scorer at 11.5 points per game behind a strong SEC season that has seen her net 13.1 points per conference game.  She has scored in double figures 16 times this season, including each of the last six games. In SEC action, Fulwiley has been a complete stat stuffer, ranking eighth in the league with 2.00 steals per conference game, 10^th in free throw percentage (.830), and 11^th in blocks per game at 1.00.

Johnson is second in the SEC and eighth in the nation with a 3.00 assist-to-turnover ratio, including an SEC-best mark of 3.64 in league play. She leads the Gamecocks with 3.00 assists per game, including 3.33 per SEC game to rank 13^th in the league. Her 1.83 steals per SEC game are 10^th-best in the conference and includes three games of five or more steals.

Paopao is the steadying force in the Gamecock backcourt with her expanding offensive package making her the Gamecocks’ third-best scorer at 10.4 points per game, including 11.4 per game against ranked opponents, which ranks second on the team. Paopao is shooting 48.1 percent from the field and 41.1 percent from 3-point range in those 12 games against the nation’s best. For the season, she is second on the team with 2.8 assists per game. In SEC action, her 1.90 assist-to-turnover ratio is eighth in the league, and her 1.75 made 3s per conference game are 15^th-best in the SEC.

Four finalists for the award then will be announced in mid-March, and the winner will be revealed the weekend of the NCAA Final Four and presented at a virtual ceremony in April 2025. Two Gamecocks have previously won the award – Tiffany Mitchell (2015) and Tyasha Harris (2020).

No. 6 South Carolina is back at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday to close out a three-game homestand against Arkansas at 7 p.m.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on South Carolina women’s basketball.

Dawn Staley Award Later Season Watch List
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Azzi Fudd, UConn
MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Izzy Higginbottom, Arkansas
Diamond Johnson, Norfolk State
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Grace Larkins, South Dakota
Ta’Niya  Latson, Florida State
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
JuJu Watkins, Southern Cal
Mikaylah Williams, LSU

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