The Milestone
Heading into the Elite Eight matchup against TCU, Tessa Johnson needed just eight points to reach 1,000 career points. It was a threshold that felt almost inevitable — and on the biggest stage of the season, she delivered. The All-American reached the 1,000-point milestone during the tournament, though she made clear to the media that her focus was on winning a third national championship rather than individual accolades.
The Game: South Carolina vs. TCU — Elite Eight
South Carolina rode a sensational second half against TCU to reach its sixth straight Final Four. After a tight contest that went deep into the third quarter, the Gamecocks erupted in the final period and outscored TCU 29-11 in the last 10 minutes, winning by 25 points.
Tessa Johnson’s performance was a microcosm of her career — quiet early, explosive when it mattered most. Johnson did not get on the board early in the game, but then delivered back-to-back-to-back 3-pointers to give her 11 points as the Gamecocks built a lead of more than 20. That burst was vintage Tessa — a sharp-shooter rising to the moment on college basketball’s grandest stage.
Who Is Tessa Johnson?
Tessa Johnson is an American college basketball player for the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference. She played basketball at St. Michael-Albertville High School in St. Michael, Minnesota, where she missed her sophomore season with a broken leg before returning to lead her team to a Class 4A state championship.
She was ranked the No. 25 overall player in the Class of 2023 and earned McDonald’s All-America and Minnesota Gatorade Player of the Year honors after averaging 24.3 points, 6.6 assists, and 2.8 steals per game as a senior. She also won Miss Basketball from the Minnesota Girls Basketball Coaches Association and was named Minneapolis Star Tribune Metro Player of the Year. Notably, she won the 3-point shooting contest at McDonald’s All-America weekend — a fitting preview of the sharpshooter she would become in Columbia.
Freshman Year: A Star Is Born (2023-24)
Tessa Johnson burst onto the scene in historic fashion. She was a critical part of the Gamecocks becoming just the fifth program in NCAA history to go undefeated and win a National Championship, with a program-record 38 wins, while extending the SEC win streak to a league-record 57 games — the sixth-best conference win streak in NCAA history.
As a freshman, Johnson scored a career-high and team-high 19 points in an 87–75 win over Iowa in the 2024 national championship game. Wikipedia That performance made her the fourth freshman in the last 25 seasons to lead her team in scoring in a national title game, and she joined former Gamecock Destanni Henderson as the only players in the last 25 years to set their career highs in a national championship game.
In the NCAA Tournament that year, she averaged 10.2 points (fourth on the team) on 40.8 percent shooting in 24.9 minutes per game, and thrived when the Gamecocks needed her most.
Sophomore Year: Building Her Legacy (2024-25)
In her second season, Johnson helped the team repeat as SEC regular-season and tournament champions and advance to the national championship game, playing in 37 games. She finished with 14 points against No. 1 Texas in the SEC Tournament title game, shooting 5-for-7 including two second-half 3-pointers. In the NCAA Tournament opener against Tennessee Tech, she went 3-for-4 from beyond the arc for 11 points and a career-high tying six assists.
Junior Year: A Sharpshooter at Her Peak (2025-26)
Tessa Johnson’s current season has been her most dominant yet. She leads the SEC in 3-point percentage at .458, which also ranks in the top ten nationally. Her effective field goal percentage climbed to 61.0%, and her usage rate has risen to 19.5%, meaning more possessions now end in her hands.
She has made 70 three-pointers this season — twice the amount she made as a freshman and 24 more than last year. Her mentality has evolved alongside her game. As one opposing coach described it, Johnson is a knock-down shooter who makes defenses pay every time they try to pack the paint, thanks in part to the Gamecocks’ interior presence creating open looks for her on the perimeter.
Some of her standout moments this season include:
- A career-high 22 points at Mississippi State, hitting all four of her 3-pointers during a 25-6 run in the second quarter that turned a nine-point deficit into an eight-point halftime lead.
- Against Southern Cal in the Sweet 16 lead-up, she went off in the third quarter, scoring 11 of her 14 points in a solo run within just eight minutes on the floor.
The Bigger Picture: A Program Cornerstone
Tessa Johnson has helped the team reach the national championship game every year of her career and has won SEC regular-season and tournament titles in each of her seasons. Currently a junior averaging 12.9 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game, Johnson is a 6-foot guard from Albertville, Minnesota, who has become one of the most reliable weapons in Coach Dawn Staley’s arsenal.
Reaching 1,000 career points is a testament not just to her scoring ability, but to her consistency, toughness, and winning culture. With the Gamecocks now headed to the Final Four in Phoenix, Tessa Johnson’s story is far from finished — and with a potential third national championship on the line, her best moments may still be ahead.
