South Carolina dropped a 66-64 heartbreaker to Texas to leave Las Vegas with a split. Here’s what stood out from the game. 

– Whoever lost the game was going to feel like they should have won the game. For South Carolina, it was the missed layups, especially missing 13 of 18 in the first half. The Gamecocks were just 16-32 for the game. Normally, when you get 32 layups, you expect to win the game.

For Texas, it would have been the poor shooting and the way South Carolina was able to control the paint for most of the game. That was the big advantage for Texas last season, and it appears to be gone.

“I did like our rebounding until the fourth quarter,” Dawn Staley said. “I like the fact that Madina got another double-double. I like the fact that we got some experience with this team.”

– The post player deserves a deeper look. The Longhorns’ ability to dominate the Gamecocks at the post position last season was one of the driving factors in South Carolina bringing in Madina Okot, and Okot was fantastic in both games in Las Vegas.

Okot had double-doubles in both games, averaging 17.5 points and 12.0 rebounds. She outplayed Kyla Oldacre, who tormented the Gamecocks last season, by a significant margin.

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It wasn’t just Okot, though. Adhel Tac was the first player off the bench in both games, and she also outplayed the Texas bigs. Tac had two points, four rebounds, and two blocks.

The two bigs for Texas, Breya Cunningham and Kyla Oldacre, totalled just 10 points and eight rebounds.

(Worth noting, Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina’s other transfer, also did what South Carolina brought her in to do. Latson forced a turnover and then, after a timeout, drew a foul and made the free throws to tie the game.)

– The rest of South Carolina’s bench, though, was a problem. Maddy McDaniel played well, and it’s normal for a point guard’s impact not to show up in the box score. But South Carolina needs more than a total of five points, three assists, a rebound, and a steal from her.

Maryam Dauda had six rebounds against Duke, but all she had was a turnover against Texas. The freshmen, Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell, didn’t do much, and it was clear that Dawn Staley doesn’t fully trust them yet. 

Still, Staley said she felt good about the bench after the game.

“I’m not upset at all about this game,” she said. “This is going to help us. We played some players who needed to get experience in big-time games. I think we found someone we are a little more comfortable putting in the game in Adhel Tac.”