The Atlanta Dream traveled to Chicago for their preseason opener and left with an 87-78 victory over the Sky. But the real story wasn’t just the final score — it was the unmistakable presence of two former South Carolina Gamecocks who made clear, in no uncertain terms, that they belong at this level.
Te-Hina Paopao and Madina Okot didn’t just contribute to a preseason win. They announced themselves.
Paopao Sets the Tone from the Perimeter
Te-Hina Paopao finished the game with 13 points, four assists, and three made three-pointers — a performance that was vintage Paopao from the moment she stepped on the floor. Anyone who watched her at South Carolina under Dawn Staley knows exactly what the Dream are getting in the Hawaiian-born guard: composure, shot-making confidence, and a three-point stroke that doesn’t waver under pressure.
Three made threes in a preseason debut is not a coincidence. It’s a statement of readiness. Paopao spent years developing into one of the most reliable perimeter shooters in women’s college basketball, and those four years in Columbia — including two national championships — appear to have translated seamlessly into her professional game. The four assists further underline her value as a connector and playmaker, someone who makes the players around her better while still being a scoring threat herself.
For a Dream franchise looking to build something meaningful, Paopao’s debut offered a reassuring glimpse of the player they drafted.
Okot Delivers the Moment of the Night
If Paopao’s performance was polished and expected, Madina Okot’s was the kind of moment that generates genuine buzz — and genuine laughter in equal measure.
Okot finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds — a double-double in her professional preseason debut, the kind of stat line that turns heads regardless of context. But it wasn’t just what she scored that made the highlight reel. It was who she scored it on.
In one of her first significant moments as a professional basketball player, Okot backed down Kamilla Cardoso — her former South Carolina teammate and fellow Gamecock — and finished with a reverse layup that had social media erupting almost immediately. The internet’s reaction was instant and unanimous: Gamecock on Gamecock action. The scene was equal parts thrilling and hilarious, two players who won a national championship together now competing against each other on professional hardwood, with Okot getting decidedly the better of that particular exchange.
The moment was symbolic in the best possible way. Okot, who was often the quiet, developing piece in South Carolina’s frontcourt behind more established stars, used one of her first professional touches to physically impose herself on a player who spent years as her teammate — a player who is not small, not soft, and not easily moved. That she did it with a reverse layup, rather than a simple power move, spoke to the offensive versatility she is bringing to Atlanta.
A double-double in a preseason debut is rare at any level. To achieve it while delivering one of the most talked-about individual plays of the night makes it even more significant.
The Bigger Picture: Dawn Staley’s Pipeline Is Real
Zoom out from the box scores and what becomes clear is that this performance wasn’t accidental. Both Paopao and Okot spent their formative years in one of the most demanding programs in the country, playing in front of packed arenas, competing in SEC schedules that rival professional basketball in intensity, and winning at the highest level the college game has to offer. That environment produces players who are not afraid of the moment — players who know exactly how to compete when the lights are brightest.
The Atlanta Dream now have two of those players. And if their preseason debut in Chicago is any indication, both are ready to make an immediate impact.
Kamilla Cardoso, for her part, probably wasn’t expecting to get backed down by a former teammate in quite that fashion. But that’s the thing about Gamecock on Gamecock action — nobody takes it easy on anyone. Not in Columbia, and not in the W.
The Dream won the game, 87-78. Paopao and Okot won the conversation.
