COLUMBIA — Ta’Niya Latson didn’t look limited when running the offense with South Carolina women’s basketball’s starters to end practice on Jan. 9 despite the fact she hasn’t played since Dec. 28.
Latson has been dealing with a left ankle sprain.
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She was in a boot on Jan. 1, then wasn’t on Jan. 4. She was back practicing on Jan. 7 but didn’t play Jan. 8 against Arkansas.
South Carolina (16-1, 3-0 SEC) hosts Georgia (15-2, 1-2) on Jan. 11 (2 p.m. ET, SEC Network).
“We’re going to see see how she feels tomorrow, every day we’re ramping her up,” coach Dawn Staley said Jan. 9. “If that lower leg injury doesn’t feel good tomorrow, then we have to pull back. If it does, we’ll just continue to try to push through.”
Latson transferred into South Carolina from Florida State so she’s still hasn’t played in her first SEC game. She’s averaging 16.9 points per game, behind Joyce Edwards’ 21.1.
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Freshman guard Agot Makeer started in her place but when asked if Latson will be eased back into the game off the bench or resume her starting role, Staley was still undecided.
“We’ll feel that out a little bit,” Staley said.
For the Seminoles, Latson scored 21 or more points per game each year, averaging a nation-best 25.2 last year.
What Dawn Staley said about Ta’Niya Latson injury
The early stages of acclimating into South Carolina’s system was a mental adjustment for her but one with a high reward. Her efficiency has increased significantly, averaging career-highs in field goal percentage (51.9%) and 3-point percentage (41.7%) despite taking less shots per game.
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Her injury put another bump in the road.
“It’s hard for athletes who perform at a high level, they’re just used to their bodies just guiding them through their play, and when it doesn’t work the way they envision it takes a stab in their confidence,” said Staley when asked how Latson is handling the recovery.
South Carolina has finished with all 10 players three times. The Gamecocks had all 10 on Nov. 23 then in Las Vegas for the two games over Thanksgiving. But once Makeer came back from concussion protocol, Latson went down. In between, Staley was also without starters Tessa Johnson and Madina Okot for a game each.
“I think we have the best medical team that will put her in a great possible situation where she can see progress every day,” Staley said. “Nothing more than just seeing progress every day and I think she’s over just every day pain every time she steps. I think now … you ramp her up and see the type of activity that or stressors that you could put on it … she’s out on the court and so I know she feels so much better.”
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Even if Latson comes away feeling good in practice Jan. 10, Staley might be cautious. South Carolina needs her against No. 2 Texas on Jan. 15 (7 p.m., ESPN2), a game with tournament seeding implications. But if she does feel ready, she might try to get her rhythm back before a big game.
Latson’s return won’t impact the other guards that drastically. The goal is still to limit how much Staley needs to play her starting five, three of whom are averaging 29 minutes a game. Reserve point guard Maddy McDaniel has played 26 minutes or more the last three games.
“Twenty eight (minutes) is where I think we can we have peak performance with everybody,” Staley said. “For the longevity of the season, hopefully we go deep into the NCAA tournament, the more depth that we’ve had in the past, more success that we’ve had. So we want to capitalize on Agot and Maddie just really playing well. So we’re going to find the minutes for them.”
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: Ta’Niya Latson injury: Dawn Staley updates for South Carolina-Georgia
