South Carolina Gamecocks forward Joyce Edwards announces Major big break in 2025 Hollywood blockbuster movie…Ready to cast in Three movies

South Carolina women’s basketball: Gamecocks beat Oklahoma to advance to the SEC Tournament final

South Carolina Gamecocks forward Joyce Edwards (8) drives to the basket against Oklahoma Sooners center Raegan Beers (52) during the second half at Bon Secours Wellness Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Joyce Edwards scored 21 points, and South Carolina dominated the paint to beat Oklahoma 93-75 and advance to the SEC tournament championship game.

Oklahoma had first-team All-SEC post Raegan Beers, but South Carolina had depth and rest. All three of South Carolina’s primary forwards scored in double figures, and even little-used Maryam Dauda made an impact off the bench.

Edwards led all scorers with 21 points. Sania Feagin added 14, and Chloe Kitts had 10 points. Kitts also had four assists.

“We’re resilient,” Edwards said. “The good thing about South Carolina, you have so many players that can score, whether it’s midrange, layups, threes. We’re not depending on one thing, and it showed today.”

Dauda, who played just three minutes on Friday, played 12 impactful minutes on Saturday. She had five points, three steals, two rebounds, and a block. She was so effective guarding Beers that she even drew a couple of frustration fouls on Beers.

South Carolina scored 50 points in the paint. They also hit 19-24 from the free throw line, repeatedly getting to the rim and drawing fouls.

“It was a collection,” Dawn Staley said. “People dumped it off to Chloe yesterday. Joyce same thing today where she made plays. People made her life a little easier at times by getting her involved. It’s more of us individually and collectively playing our best basketball.”

The paint prowess more than made up for a dismal shooting game from three. South Carolina shot just 2-15 from three and didn’t hit from behind the arc until Tessa Johnson broke the seal in the fourth quarter.

Johnson finished with 11 points and five rebounds, and again played stingy defense.

MiLaysia Fulwiley had another explosive game. She scored 19 points, had five assists, three rebounds, and two steals. Fulwiley was 1-3 from three, but she didn’t settle for jumpers. She drew five fouls and went 6-7 from the line.

“I feel like I’ve got a lot of tricks in my bag,” she said. “I have to know when and when I don’t need to do those. I feel like I got that today.”

By comparison, Oklahoma got just 26 points in the paint and went 8-12 from the line.

“We needed to do more in the paint,” Jennie Baranczyk said. “I think when you dominate the paint, you’re going to dominate the game.”

 

Oklahoma came into the game with the second-best rebounding margin in the country, plus-12.1. On Saturday, South Carolina outrebounded the Sooners 42-41. It was a team effort by the Gamecocks. Raven Johnson was the leading rebounder with six boards.

Beers had just seven points on 2-10 shooting, plus eight rebounds. Sahara Williams led the Sooners with 17 points.

 

South Carolina shot 47.4% and held the Sooners to 39.4%. South Carolina got 22 points off of 16 turnovers and gave up just four points on eight turnovers.

 

“They made it difficult,” Baranczyk said. The whole environment made it difficult for us. You want to start a heck of a lot better than you do. You can’t pass it to ’em because they’re too good, they convert too easy.”

 

Notes:

South Carolina wore its “Cocky” alternates. The Gamecocks also wore them in the SEC tournament semifinal last season. South Carolina is 4-1 in these alternates this season. … South Carolina advanced to the tournament final for the sixth consecutive season. The Gamecocks have won the past two and four of the past five. … Adhel Tac and Maddy McDaniel got in for the final minute. They were the only Gamecocks who played but didn’t score. … Oklahoma shot 11-33 from three. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a garnet sweatsuit and an “Everybody Watches Women’s Sports” t-shirt. … South Carolina’s next game is on Sunday against Texas or LSU.

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South Carolina players experience rite of passage with first SEC Tournament net-cutting: ‘It felt like I was dreaming’

Winning has been ingrained in the South Carolina women’s basketball program’s DNA. And with winning in college basketball comes a unique tradition: cutting down the net.

 

Once the final buzzer has sounded and the trophy ceremony has been completed, South Carolina’s players and coaches take their turns climbing up a little, grabbing a pair of scissors and portioning off a piece of the net for themselves. Dawn Staley, in recent years, has also turned the remaining pieces of the net into a “netlace” that she drapes around her neck.

 

At this point of her coaching career, Staley has become a net-cutting veteran. She has won three national and nine conference championships in the past decade, each with net-cutting to follow.

 

For some players, however, Sunday’s served as the first time they had participated in the rite of passage. They described the experience as a culmination of a year’s worth of work and effort, as well as a dream come true.

“It’s definitely a surreal moment,” Maddy McDaniel said. “As a kid, you see this on TV, and you can’t wait to do it. So, it’s good to come out and actually be able to physically do it myself.”

Joyce Edwards, the other member of the Gamecocks’ true freshman contingent, has won at every stage of her career. She led Camden High School to back-to-back state titles during her junior and senior years. Edwards has also picked up two international championships as a member of USA Basketball’s 2023 FIBA U19 World Cup and 2024 FIBA U18 AmeriCup squads.

 

South Carolina’s 64-45 SEC Tournament championship win over Texas on Sunday served as Edwards’ first taste of winning a title at the collegiate level. She said the team’s collective effort spearheaded its three strong performances in Greenville.

 

“(I’m) just proud of myself, proud of our team. We knew we were going to get here, but (I’m) just proud of the confidence that each and every one of us had in each other sharing the ball, locking down on defense, helping each other, having each others’ back,” Edwards said. “The whole culture, the whole chemistry around our team right now, I’m really enjoying it.”

 

Like Edwards, Maryam Dauda is in the midst of her first season in garnet and black, but she already has multiple years of experience competing in the SEC. After three seasons of waiting, she cut down a net for the first time this weekend.

 

“I was so excited. I felt like I was dreaming,” Dauda said. “Coming here and playing for Coach Staley, that was a plan in the first place. But actually seeing it happen in person, I just felt happy.”

 

Even a member of South Carolina’s national title-winning season a year ago experienced cutting down the net after an SEC Tournament Championship for the first time.

 

A physical altercation that ensued during the Gamecocks’ conference tournament title clash against LSU in 2024 led to four Gamecock players, including Tessa Johnson, being ejected from the game. Because of this, she could not take part in the team’s public post-game festivities.

 

Johnson said that although she participated in some celebrations in the locker room, she enjoyed experiencing everything on the court this time around.

 

“Everyone kept making little jokes about the fact that we were in here while everyone was out there. It was good to see them out there. Still, they brought it in here and celebrated with us,” Johnson said. “But it felt good celebrating it with them out there.”

Edwards knows, however, that this net-cutting is just another milestone on the path towards a second consecutive national championship. She said that remains the team’s focus as it heads into the postseason.

“Obviously, the job’s not finished,” Edwards said. “We’re one step closer to our end goal. That’s the only thing that matters.”