South Carolina women’s basketball needed a bucket so Joyce Edwards turned into a quarterback.
Fighting a scoring drought with 3:30 left in the game against Duke on Nov. 26, Edwards launched a perfectly timed one-handed a full court pass to Ta’Niya Latson on the run while inbounding the ball.
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It was one of many massive plays from Edwards, who had 22 points and six assists in the 83-66 win over Duke in the Player’s Era Championship tournament in Las Vegas. The No. 2 Gamecocks (7-0) will play No. 4 Texas (6-0) in the championship game on Nov. 27 (8 p.m. ET, TruTV).
Edwards thrived as a passer but also as a scorer in transition, contributing to South Carolina’s 24 fast-break points.
“I love when Joyce runs the floor,” point guard Raven Johnson said. “She runs the floor, she knows the ball is coming. It’s like poetry in motion.”
What Dawn Staley said about Madina Okot, Joyce Edwards
This was Edwards’ fourth 20-point game of the season but she was just one piece of the puzzle in beating.
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Madina Okot had 23 points, four steals, two blocks and 13 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the year.
Staley got Okot out of the portal for post production and to help Edwards. Their 45 combined points come in just their seventh game on the floor together.
“It’s growing every day,” Staley said when asked about their partnership flourishing. “We knew that they had to build chemistry … They didn’t play with each other for a long time. Joyce was not with us over the summer. They couldn’t build that chemistry when the stakes weren’t as high as they were today.”
Edwards spent a majority of the summer playing with USA Basketball. It was a beneficial experience but did result in less preseason time with Okot.
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“I think as coaches, we’re real honest with our players. They have to play well together. Like Joyce and Madina have to play well together,” Staley said. “We can’t just think it’s going to magically happen. I think we have to be forceful, let them know, communicate that.”
Staley noted the development of their high-low game. Edwards spent all of her freshman year with Sania Feagin and Chloe Kitts in the paint, which changed the dynamic for all three. Okot is a 6-6 traditional center, allowing her game to complement Edwards but also play opposite.
On all three of Staley’s teams that won national championships, a forward 6-4 or taller was the leading scorer. Edwards led the 2024-25 team that lost to UConn in the title game with 12.7 points. Okot was averaging the second-most with 13.3 before the Duke win.
“We’re a high-low basketball team, we involve our post players a lot to be decision-makers,” Staley said. “A high-low pass is one of those decisions that we didn’t get much out of the two of them. We just started being calculating and making them do it with defense, without defense. Now we’re starting to do it in the games.”
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Texas held UCLA’s 6-7 star center Lauren Betts to eight points despite her coming into the game averaging 15.2. Okot and Edwards will be instrumental against the Longhorns, both scoring through contact and stopping easy post production.
“We all know Madina is a great player,” Edwards said. “We knew coming in she was going to be a star. I feel like she’s finally coming into her true self.
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: Joyce Edwards plays South Carolina QB with full-court pass vs Duke
