South Carolina Forgets But Doesn’t Forgive
March 31, 2026
Defector
Any hotshot high schooler who commits to South Carolina is also committing to a kind of amnesia. How many points you scored last game, how old you are, whether you’re a starter or come off the bench, whether you’ve been on this stage before—none of those things seem to matter as much as what you’re doing right now, in this game. When sophomore Joyce Edwards was asked, after Monday night’s Elite Eight game against TCU, how she was motivated to put up a 24-point, 12 rebound performance after a quieter game in the Sweet Sixteen, she seemed almost puzzled by the question.
“I didn’t feel like my last game was necessarily bad. Obviously, my point production was reduced,” Edwards said. But that was last game, a self-contained universe with its own rules. Oklahoma had sent two or three defenders her way; TCU didn’t. It wasn’t a matter of fuel so much as it was a matter of circumstance. “Whenever you get single coverage, coach tells you to go score it, and so that’s what you do.” This is what South Carolina does: Their 78-52 win over TCU sent the Gamecocks to a sixth straight Final Four and set up a Final Four repeat of sorts, with last year’s field of teams all returning. Edwards shone alongside freshman Agot Makeer, who came off the bench but ended up earning her 31 minutes by taking on a tough defensive assignment—TCU star point guard Olivia Miles had just six assists to four turnovers—and then adding 18 points of her own. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8T7O2Xtp8o
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