Week one of the 2026 WNBA season is in the books, and the former South Carolina Gamecocks scattered across the league made sure it was anything but quiet. From record-breaking performances in Las Vegas to a rookie finding her footing in Atlanta, to a historic consecutive-game streak coming to an end in Indiana — the Gamecock footprint across the league was impossible to miss.
Here’s a full breakdown of where every former Gamecock stands after the opening week.
Atlanta Dream (2-1): Three Gamecocks, Three Big Weeks
The Dream entered the season with the most former Gamecocks on any single roster, and all three delivered in Week 1 — even if the final result of Sunday’s home opener stung.
Allisha Gray is operating at an All-WNBA level through three games. Averaging 25.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and a block per game across 34.4 minutes, she currently sits second in the WNBA in scoring and has quietly moved into fifth place on Atlanta’s career assists list. The numbers alone are impressive, but it’s the moments that separate elite players — and Gray delivered one that will define Atlanta’s season story for some time. In the waning seconds of a 91-90 comeback win at Minnesota, Gray made a clutch block to seal the victory, capping a sequence that perfectly illustrated who she is as a player.
Through three games she posted 24, 26, and 25 points respectively — a consistency that very few players in this league can match.
Te-Hina Paopao had what may be her most important week as a professional. After modest outings in the first two games — six points in Minnesota and two in Dallas — she stepped into a starting role against Las Vegas and delivered a career-high 19 points, shooting 4-of-9 from three and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line while contributing defensively with a steal and a block across 36 minutes. Right before Gray’s game-saving block in Minnesota, it was Paopao who hit the go-ahead bucket — two former Gamecocks, back-to-back, deciding a road victory.
Her 3-point shooting (25% on the week) will need to stabilize, but Sunday proved she can be a primary offensive weapon when the moment calls for it.
Madina Okot is the most fascinating story of Atlanta’s early season. The rookie center — selected 13th overall out of South Carolina — recorded her first career double-double in just 16 minutes of action against Las Vegas: 14 points and 11 rebounds. Those are not minutes-adjusted statistics. That is flat-out production. Her first three games show a player still earning her way into the rotation, but each outing has told a consistent story about her rebounding instincts and interior presence.
The trajectory here is unmistakably upward.
This week: Friday, May 22 vs. Dallas (7:30 ET, Ion/League Pass) | Sunday, May 24 vs. Phoenix (3:00 ET, League Pass)
Chicago Sky (3-1): Cardoso Inconsistent but Chicago Doesn’t Care
Kamilla Cardoso has been a mixed bag through four games, which is perhaps the most honest way to describe a center averaging 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game while ranging from 22-point, 14-rebound performances to seven-point, eight-rebound ones. The ceiling is clearly there — her 22-14 outing at Portland was a dominant showcase — but the floor needs raising.
To be fair, the Sky are 3-1 despite a schedule that has not yet tested them at the highest level. Cardoso’s consistency will be the variable that determines whether that record holds as competition stiffens.
This week: Wednesday, May 20 vs. Dallas (9:00 ET, USA) | Saturday, May 23 vs. Minnesota (1:00 ET, CBS)
Golden State Valkyries (2-1): Amihere Flashes Potential, Still Chasing Consistency
Laeticia Amihere is the definition of a boom-or-bust week. Her stat line against Phoenix — 13 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 blocks in 24 minutes — was genuinely outstanding, the kind of all-around performance that justifies every bit of optimism surrounding her development. Then, against Chicago, she managed 11 minutes and three points.
The variance is the story. When Amihere is engaged and feeling it, she offers a unique combination of length, playmaking, and shot-blocking that few forwards in this league can replicate. The challenge — one that has followed her throughout her career — is making that version of herself the default rather than the exception.
This week: Thursday, May 21 at New York (8:00 ET, Amazon Prime) | Friday, May 22 at Indiana (7:30 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Indiana Fever (2-2): Boston’s Streak Ends, Defense Remains Alarming
The headline coming out of Indiana’s week is one that no one wanted to write: Aliyah Boston missed a game for the first time in her WNBA and college career, ending a streak of 275 consecutive games — all starts — that stretched back six and a half years. A lower leg injury kept her out of Sunday’s win over Seattle, and the basketball world took a moment to acknowledge the magnitude of what that streak represented.
Before the missed game, Boston had been excellent. Her 23-point, four-rebound outing against Dallas in an overtime loss was a reminder of her ceiling as an offensive weapon, and she added seven rebounds, two blocks and two assists in a win over Los Angeles.
The individual performance, however, exists within a team context that is deeply concerning. Indiana has already accomplished something that only eight other teams in WNBA history have managed — losing multiple games in a single season while scoring at least 100 points. They did it in their first three games. That is not a defense struggling to find its footing. That is a structural problem.
Tyasha Harris and Raven Johnson are both finding their minutes and rhythm early in the season, with neither yet establishing a clear, consistent role. Harris showed the most promise in a 16-minute outing at Los Angeles, posting seven points and three assists, while Johnson’s best performance came in 15 minutes against Seattle — three rebounds, an assist, and a block. The balance between the two guards remains unsettled, and head coach Stephanie White will need to clarify the rotation sooner rather than later.
Bree Hall has yet to appear in a game, still working toward a roster spot.
This week: Wednesday, May 20 vs. Portland (7:00 ET, USA) | Friday, May 22 vs. Golden State (7:30 ET, Ion/League Pass)
Las Vegas Aces (4-1): A’ja Wilson Is Rewriting the Record Books in Real Time
There is almost no adequate way to contextualize what A’ja Wilson did last week, but the attempt is necessary.
She became the first player in WNBA history to record multiple games with at least 45 points. Then, in her very next game against Atlanta, she passed her own head coach — Becky Hammon, a six-time WNBA All-Star — for 19th place on the league’s all-time scoring list. She now has 5,844 career points. She is 271 games into her career and is still almost three months away from her 30th birthday. Hammon reached that same milestone after 450 games, retiring at 37 — and 3,474 of her 5,841 career points came after she turned 30.
The implication is staggering. Wilson is not simply on a historic pace — she is doing this at an age where her prime statistical years are arguably still ahead of her.
Her week-by-week numbers — 19, 19, 22, 45, 20 — reflect a player whose floor never dips below elite. Even her quieter outputs are All-Star level production. The 45-point performance against Connecticut was the headline, but the 22-point, 11-rebound game the night before and the 20-point, six-rebound effort to close out Atlanta deserve equal respect.
This week: Saturday, May 23 vs. Los Angeles (8:00 ET, CBS)
Los Angeles Sparks (1-3): Patience Required
Sania Feagin is dealing with a lower leg injury that is not expected to be serious but has limited her to three minutes of action through four games.
Ta’Niya Latson is in the middle of a full-time position conversion to point guard — a transition that almost never comes easily. Two points in three appearances across 2.9 minutes per game is more about acclimation than ability at this stage. The learning curve is real, and Los Angeles will need to give her time and opportunity before drawing conclusions.
This week: Thursday, May 21 at Phoenix (10:00 ET, Amazon Prime) | Saturday, May 23 at Las Vegas (8:00 ET, CBS)
Seattle Storm (1-3): Cooke Showing Something New
Zia Cooke has never averaged more than 4.8 points in a WNBA season. Three games in, she is averaging 9.8 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game — numbers that do not resemble anything she has produced previously.
More notably, she is shooting 40% from three and demonstrating a dimension to her game — playmaking and rebounding — that was largely absent in her first two seasons. Whether this is a genuine developmental leap or an early-season mirage remains to be seen, but the early evidence suggests Cooke may be stepping into a larger role with genuine purpose.
This week: Wednesday, May 20 vs. Connecticut (10:00 ET, League Pass) | Friday, May 22 vs. Connecticut (10:00 ET, Ion/League Pass) | Sunday, May 24 vs. Washington (6:00 ET, League Pass)
The Bigger Picture
Through the first week of the 2026 WNBA season, the South Carolina pipeline is producing at every level of the league — from a superstar rewriting history in Las Vegas, to a veteran carrying Atlanta’s offense, to a rookie announcing herself on the biggest stage available. Dawn Staley’s program has never been more visible in the professional game, and the performances backing that visibility are entirely substantive.
Week two begins Wednesday. The Gamecocks in the W are just getting started.
