Two former teammates who won state championships together in high school and a national championship together in college met again Wednesday night — this time on opposite sides of a professional basketball floor
Long before either of them wore a Gamecock uniform, Raven Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson were winning championships together in Atlanta. They ran the floor at Westlake High School, won four straight state titles and a Geico High School National Championship, and announced themselves to the basketball world as two of the most gifted guards in the country. From there, their paths diverged — Latson headed to Florida State, Johnson to South Carolina — before fate, the transfer portal, and Dawn Staley’s recruiting genius reunited them in Columbia for one shared season in 2025-26.
On Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, they met again. This time, wearing different uniforms, playing for different teams, competing for a professional win in the WNBA’s 30th season. And when the final buzzer sounded, the two former teammates found each other on the floor, embraced, and reminded everyone watching why the story of their bond has always been one of the most compelling in women’s basketball.
“Ta’Niya reunited with her Gamecock family,” the WNBA captioned the post-game moment. It was a small gesture with a big backstory.
The Game: Indiana Wins, But the Story Was Bigger
Caitlin Clark delivered 24 points and nine assists, Kelsey Mitchell added 23 points, and the Indiana Fever beat the Los Angeles Sparks 87-78 on Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena. It was Indiana’s first win of the 2026 season and a much-needed bounce-back after their competitive but frustrating opening loss to Dallas.
Clark’s first three-pointer of the night — in seven attempts — came with 4:51 remaining in the fourth quarter to extend Indiana’s lead to 78-63. The Sparks responded with an 11-3 run, capped by a Kelsey Plum basket in the lane, to pull within 83-76 with 1:23 left. But after an Indiana turnover, Plum missed an open corner three, and Clark found Mitchell on an inbounds pass for a layup to seal it at 85-76 with 33 seconds remaining. NCAA
Sophie Cunningham added 12 points and Monique Billings contributed nine points and eight rebounds in her regular-season debut for Indiana. The Fever (1-1) looked considerably sharper defensively than they had in the opener, and the win gives them genuine momentum heading into the next stretch of their schedule.
Johnson Steps Up in a Bigger Role
Raven Johnson’s second professional game told a different story than her first. Still operating off the bench and providing the defensive spark her head coach Stephanie White has been building her around, Johnson tallied four points, two rebounds, two assists, and a steal in her debut last week — but this week brought an opportunity to show more.
The narrative context of this game added a specific layer to Johnson’s mindset. She wasn’t just playing another road game. She was playing against her best friend. Against the guard she had grown up with, won championships with, and shared a locker room with as recently as April. Before the game, Latson acknowledged their relationship directly: “We talked yesterday. I’m just happy to go against her. That’s my dawg. I know we’re going to talk a little trash on the court. Obviously, we’re best friends, but we’re going to compete.”
Johnson entered the league as Indiana’s designated defensive weapon — a player who averaged 9.9 points, 5.1 assists, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game during South Carolina’s 2025-26 national title game run — and every game is another opportunity to carve out the role her talent deserves on a roster full of established veterans. Wednesday’s win was a step in that direction.
Latson Holds Her Own in a Tough Night
For Ta’Niya Latson, Wednesday was a reminder of the learning curve that comes with transitioning from the most prolific college scorer in the country to a rookie finding her footing in the professional game. Latson was selected in the second round of the 2026 WNBA Draft, 20th overall, by the Los Angeles Sparks — a draft position that reflected some scouts’ uncertainty about her defensive projection, not any doubt about her offensive gifts. At Florida State, she averaged 22.5 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 3.9 assists across 93 career games, was the NCAA’s leading scorer in 2024-25 with 25.2 points per game, and became just the third player in history to reach 2,000 career points in three seasons.
The WNBA presents an entirely different challenge, and Latson entered Wednesday clearly focused and self-aware about what the Sparks needed from her. “We just had to turn the page,” Latson said ahead of the game, reflecting on Los Angeles’s difficult season opener. “We had a really bad game. So making adjustments and cleaning up some things and then being intentional and communicating. We’re not going to overanalyze anything. We’re just going to continue to work and communicate.”
Her pre-game scouting report on Indiana was equally direct and revealing. “They have multiple weapons with Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and CC. So we just have to play good team defense, get stops, get out in transition, try to play together, and move the ball. I feel like that’s something that we needed to do against the Aces that we didn’t get to do. So just be patient.”
The 87-78 final score suggests Los Angeles couldn’t quite execute that plan fully, but the honest self-reflection from a rookie two games into her professional career signals something encouraging: Latson understands the game she’s in, and she’s already approaching it like a professional.
A Bond That Transcends Basketball
The post-game reunion between Johnson and Latson at Crypto.com Arena was brief — a hug, some laughter, the kind of exchange that only happens between people who have been through something real together. But it was the image that cut through all the box scores and possession charts to remind everyone watching what makes women’s basketball special right now.
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These two players won four straight state titles and a national high school championship together at Westlake High School in Atlanta. They reunited at South Carolina, where alongside Aliyah Boston and the rest of Dawn Staley’s program, they competed for national championships and built the kind of bonds that professional careers don’t break. Now they’re in opposite locker rooms on opposite sides of the country — and when the final whistle blew on Wednesday, none of that history mattered to either of them.
They were just two best friends, grateful to be living the dream they both chased, catching up in the hallway of a professional basketball arena.
From Westlake to Williams-Brice to the WNBA’s 30th season. The journey continues — and it’s only just beginning.
