South Carolina cruised to a pair of blowout wins in Florida to conclude the first half of the season. What did we learn from the swing through the Sunshine State?

Before we get to my three things, I asked Dawn Staley what she learned. Here’s her full answer:

“That we’re getting better. We’re starting to just gel on both sides of the ball. We’ve gotten pretty good practices in, so that allows us to do that. You know now that we’re in between semesters, we can really get some work done. And the players are just scrap by in, scrap by in on both sides of the ball. And we’re just jelling. Just jelling. We just need time. Hopefully, we can just continue to stay connected defensively and share the ball offensively, and then everybody can be happy.”

On to my three things.

1. South Carolina can score enough to win a lot of games

Compare South Carolina’s last two trips to southwestern Florida.

At the Final Four in April, South Carolina scored 74 and 59 points against Texas and UConn, an average of 66.5 points. And the 74 points against Texas was South Carolina’s best offensive game of the tournament since the first round.

This weekend, the Gamecocks scored 103 and 105 points (an average of 104). They surpassed 74 points in the third quarter of both games. Nobody is suggesting that it was the same level of competition, but they can score some points.

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Shoot, compare the Christmas Gamecocks to the Thanksgiving Gamecocks. They scored 64 points against Texas in the Thanksgiving Day loss. They are averaging 97.6 points in the five games since then.

South Carolina is second in the nation in field goal percentage and eighth in scoring offense. I don’t think 66 points will win the game the next time South Carolina and Texas play in January.

2. Joyce Edwards will win some major awards

In the preseason, I predicted Ta’Niya Latson would be SEC Player of the Year. But at the unofficial midway point of the season, Edwards is the Gamecock most likely to win. 

The SEC awards are notoriously nonsensical, so who knows if she will win SEC Player of the Year? But she’s playing at an All-American level and should be recognized nationally.

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3. South Carolina needs Agot Makeer back

There was some good. Maddy McDaniel played well in Florida, averaging 5.5 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals. Maryam Dauda scored 12 points against FGCU. Adhel Tac had eight rebounds against USF.

But South Carolina’s bench isn’t doing enough, and at some point, it will have to do more. Makeer is still the Gamecocks’ most productive reserve despite not playing in almost a month, and she and McDaniel are the only two reserves who reliably make positive plays. With the other three, it’s like you put them in the game and pray they are having a good day.