For the second-straight game, No. 4 Texas’ super seven took down a top-three ranked opponent. But once again, there was one Longhorn who mattered the most.
Rori Harmon, who had a season-high 26 points against UCLA, hit a fading sideline jumper with less than one second remaining to break a 64-64 tie between SEC foes Texas and South Carolina and give the Longhorns the two-point win over the No. 2-ranked Gamecocks, 66-64.
The game-winner gave Harmon just six points for the game, but she substituted her scoring with playmaking, finishing with nine assists as she once again played all 40 minutes. During the game, she also became Texas’ all-time leader in assists, with 777. The super senior guard was named the MVP of the Players Era Championship final.
Overall, the two games in Vegas were a well-deserved return to the spotlight for Hamon. After her ACL injury in December 2023 robbed her of a junior season that was off to a stellar start, she also was not her best self last season, with the knee brace she wore all season an indication that she was not yet operating at full capacity.
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Now, it appears we’re watching the real Rori again, as she is playing with the zip, confidence and craft that, as her head coach never hesitates to say, makes her, quite possibly, the best point guard in the country.
Junior wing Madison Booker, who likewise played all 40 minutes for Vic Schaefer’s squad, also came up clutch for Longhorns on Thanksgiving night, scoring eight of her 16 points in the final frame. After leading for most of the game, Texas trailed by four points entering fourth due to a late third quarter surge from South Carolina. Booker’s third bucket of the period gave the Longhorns the lead again before Harmon’s heroics allowed Texas to edge South Carolina in the back-and-fourth and down-to-the-wire battle.
Texas is sure to vault above the two teams they’ve just beaten to rise to No. 2 in the next AP Top 25 poll. South Carolina, however, shouldn’t slide more than one spot, as the Gamecocks can still exit Las Vegas feeling good about themselves.
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In particular, South Carolina might have discovered that their success will, once again, run through their frontcourt.
Entering the season, the strength of this Gamecock team seemed to reside in backcourt, a departure from almost all teams of the Dawn Staley era. With the scoring of senior Ta’Niya Latson, playmaking of super senior Raven Johnson and shooting of junior Tessa Johnson, South Carolina’s starting guards are far from a weak point, but it looks like the Gamecocks will be powered by their posts due the rapid growth of sophomore Joyce Edwards and senior transfer Madina Okot.
After scoring 22 points against Duke, Edwards tied Latson for the team-best against Texas with 16 points. It was also a scoring burst by Edwards that sparked South Carolina’s third quarter surge.
Okot’s acclimation to South Carolina has been even more impressive.
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Her 12-point and 11-rebound double-double in the Players Era Championship final was her sixth of the season, following up the 23-point and 12-rebound double-double she earned against Duke. Those scoring numbers prove that Okot is not just an energy big who fights on the boards. She’s also a sophisticated finisher around the basket, who possesses the soft hands required to corral entry passes, has demonstrated a knack for keeping the ball high and rarely rushes due to opponent contests. Her improvement as a free throw shooter (an area that remains a weakness for Edwards) also is reflective of a refined scoring touch, as she’s up to almost 79 percent from the line after hovering under 63 percent in her lone season at Mississippi State.
It’s been just eight games, suggesting the best is yet to come for the Edwards-Okot frontcourt. The next time the Gamecocks meet the Longhorns—Jan. 15 in Columbia—that tandem very well could be responsible for reversing the result.
For now, Harmon and the Horns can claim that the SEC—and maybe all of women’s college basketball—runs through Austin.
