Exactly year ago, Madina Okot scored 26 points for Mississippi State.
Since transferring to South Carolina women’s basketball, the 6-foot-6 center couldn’t quite eclipse her career-high, scoring 23 points in three of her first nine games.
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One year later to the day, she set a new career-high with 27 points and the No. 3 Gamecocks (12-1) had little trouble in a 105-43 win Florida Gulf Coast (3-6) at Alico Arena in in Fort Myers, Florida. But from the jump it didn’t appear to be a notable performance for coach Dawn Staley’s starting center.
“I thought she got off to a slow start,” Staley said. “It was a slow start for one reason or another but then we started the third quarter, I just thought ‘we need to play her longer’ … she didn’t play much, let’s see if we can get some rhythm going with her.”
Okot’s status was uncertain heading into the two-game Florida road trip, which started with a win on Dec. 18 against USF in Tampa.
Staley wouldn’t clarify if it was sickness or injury, but Okot didn’t play in the Dec. 14 win over Penn State but started practicing again ahead of the road trip. She scored 12 points in the 103-44 win two earlier against the Bulls in 21 minutes of action.
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Against the Eagles, Okot played just seven minutes in the first half, scoring four points on 2-of-4 from the floor.
She then played more in the third quarter than the first half alone, scoring 10 points in eight minutes. She finished with 12 made baskets in 25 minutes, including her first 3-pointer for South Carolina.
Okot had 36% of the points in the paint, with 74 total for the Gamecocks.
“I thought she did a great job making layups,” Staley said. “When you make layups, you can shoot a 3-pointer off the backboard and it goes in, shots connect like that. I thought she did a great job rebounding, and a great job defending. We were switching everything, she had to keep guards in front of her.”
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With her 12 rebounds, she logged her ninth double-double of the season after heading into the game tied for second in the country with eight. She also had two assists, a block and a steal, with only two personal fouls in return.
And Okot’s slow start didn’t matter. Starting post player Joyce Edwards had 17 points by halftime, coming off a career-high 34 against USF.
Even when Okot got going, Edwards’ scoring didn’t subside which is exactly what Staley needs from the starting frontcourt.
Edwards finished with 29 points, the first South Carolina player with four straight 25-point games since Shannon Johnson (1995-96). Okut and Edwards have combined for 102 points the last two games.
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Okot went 12-of-16 from the floor (75%), after going 6-of-7 against USF, missing just five shots across two games.
“She did a great job coming out after a slow start playing much, much better,” Staley said.
The chemistry is improving for a team that hasn’t had its full roster most games this season. Staley had nine healthy players for this trip, with Agot Makeer still working back from concussion protocol.
With only one game before SEC play, it’s imperative Edwards and Okot continue to gel before the level of talent and physicality ramps up.
South Carolina hosts Providence on Dec. 28 (noon ET, SEC Network) and opens SEC play at home against Alabama on Jan. 1 (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network+)
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Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: One change by Dawn Staley led to South Carolina’s Madina Okot’s 27 points
