South Carolina Prepares for First Round With Key Injury Questions and Depth Opportunity
With South Carolina heavily favored in their first-round matchup, the game may double as a meaningful developmental moment for the program’s younger players. Agot Makeer, Ayla McDowell, and Alicia Tournebize — all seeing limited minutes during the regular season — stand to benefit most if the Gamecocks build an early lead and coast, giving head coach Dawn Staley a chance to rotate deeper into the bench without consequence.
That kind of controlled environment is precisely what the program used to great effect a year ago. In the 2024 NCAA Tournament, then-freshman Tessa Johnson struggled through a first-round matchup against Presbyterian, going scoreless on 0-of-7 shooting. Rather than derailing her tournament, the experience served as a pressure release valve — she settled in afterward and became a key contributor in the Gamecocks’ run to the national championship. The lesson wasn’t lost on the veterans around her now.
“It does get hard, especially when you’re experiencing something for the first time it gets hard,” Raven Johnson said. “You have to fight through those things and I think each player on this team has fought through the adversity, fought through hard times, and just leaning on teammates. Leaning on coaches also. They’re going to be ready when their number is called. They’re going to be ready whenever the moment is. So like I said, I think Coach is preparing us well in practice for when those moments are going to happen.”
The question heading into this tournament, however, is whether Tessa Johnson herself is fully healthy. she was receiving medical treatment after games against LSU and Texas, and appeared visibly uncomfortable on the bench during the championship game. The concerning optics have since eased. Johnson indicated the post-tournament rest window allowed her to recover both physically and mentally.
“I took a lot of time to rest my body and kind of just mentally get back there,” Johnson said. “The tournament is different out there, so just being able to refocus in and, yeah, I did a lot of praying.”
Johnson has also been doing her homework on Saturday’s opponent. Southern’s defensive intensity in their own first-round game caught her attention.
“Their aggressiveness,” she said. “They looked ready to play yesterday and we’re just going to have to scout that and adjust.”
It’s a familiar mindset from a team that has learned not to underestimate early-round opponents. Raven Johnson, for her part, stressed the importance of staying grounded and process-focused rather than looking ahead.
“We want to focus on it one game at a time,” Raven Johnson said. “Just being in the moment where our feet are, just taking one game at a time and believing in each other and holding, like we had this video in the beginning of the season where we had each other’s hands and not letting anyone in our circle.”
Beyond Tessa Johnson’s health, South Carolina faces two additional injury concerns. Adhel Tac has been sidelined since February 5th following a left leg injury sustained against Mississippi State. The program has not disclosed the exact nature of the injury, but Staley previously indicated rest was the only prescribed treatment. Tac did not participate in the opening 15 minutes of Friday’s practice and is not expected to suit up on Saturday — a significant absence for a team that may need her depth as the bracket deepens.
Maddy McDaniel is dealing with a separate issue entirely, sitting out Friday’s practice while managing an illness and notably absent from the locker room. Staley expressed cautious optimism that McDaniel would recover in time to play, though her status remains uncertain heading into tip-off.
Taken together, South Carolina enters the tournament with the talent and tournament pedigree to advance comfortably — but the injury cloud surrounding multiple contributors adds a layer of unpredictability that will bear watching as the competition intensifies.
