South Carolina women’s basketball entered the 2025-26 season with just 10 healthy players, and that thin rotation has already been tested. Five times this year the No. 3 Gamecocks have been forced to play with only nine available players — and on Sunday against N.C. Central, things became even tighter as South Carolina was reduced to just eight.
Despite the limited roster, the Gamecocks have continued to roll. Their only setback so far is a two-point loss to top-five Texas in Las Vegas, proof that the roster strain hasn’t severely impacted their win-loss column. But Dawn Staley knows the real battle is staying healthy deep into the season, and that means building out a bench that can step in, hold the line, and keep the system running smoothly.
Staley stressed that she needs her reserves to be dependable enough to allow the starters to rest without sacrificing production. Ayla McDowell, a freshman wing, is one of the players Staley hopes can grow into that role — and she’s already showing encouraging signs.
McDowell flashed her potential early. In her second college game against Bowling Green, she stepped into a larger role with Maddy McDaniel sidelined, logging 23 minutes and delivering 11 points, three rebounds, two steals, and an assist. Staley described McDowell afterward as “predictable,” a word that might sound negative but is actually high praise from the Hall of Fame coach.
“There is nothing more that a coach wants from a freshman than to be predictable,” Staley said in November. “She is in the right places. She can shoot the ball. Defensively, she’s not gonna look like a Raven [Johnson], but her impact on the ball, off the ball, she stays in plays and she does what we ask of all of our guards. If you just look at her, she plays it picture perfect.”
A few weeks later, McDowell again took advantage of a short-handed rotation, playing 26 minutes in a dominant win over Winthrop. She added seven points, four rebounds, one steal, and an assist, prompting another positive review from Staley.
“Ayla is coming along,” Staley said. “Ayla is doing the things, the intangible things. She knows what we want and she plays to that. And I like that.”
Her impact on the box score quieted in the following stretch — averaging 2.5 points across games against Queens, Duke, Texas, and Louisville — but Staley still saw progress. Against Louisville, McDowell played nine minutes while the starting guards logged 38, contributing three points, two rebounds, and an assist. Staley said she looked “really great” in her limited run.
Then came Sunday — the night McDowell truly broke through.
With Tessa Johnson out sick and Agot Makeer in concussion protocol, McDowell’s minutes soared to a career-high 27, and she responded with the best game of her young career: 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting from three in a 106-42 rout of N.C. Central.
“It felt good,” McDowell said. “Honestly, I’ve just been working on my 3-ball a lot. I’m just trying to work on being ready when my time comes.”
According to Staley, an earlier setback helped spark McDowell’s recent progress. In the Texas loss, McDowell played five nervous minutes and missed all three shots she took — an experience that motivated her.
“It was the Texas game, meaning she was a little nervous — like she was a lot nervous,” Staley said. “I do think because of that… she didn’t like the way she played, she didn’t like the way she felt. But if we don’t put her out there, she doesn’t get in the gym — and she went right to the gym after we got back.”
Her five made threes against N.C. Central put her alongside Ta’Niya Latson as the only Gamecocks this season to hit five or more in a game.
“She can shoot the ball. That is no question,” Staley said. “She has to put herself in position to shoot the ball, and she doesn’t always do that. Now she does, and we’re finding her, and she’s making shots.”
If McDowell keeps building on performances like Sunday’s, she may become a steady and trusted option off the bench — whether South Carolina has 10 players available or just eight.
“I feel very prepared,” McDowell said after the Bowling Green game. “Coach always talks about bringing practice habits to the game and I practice how I play. So it’s just about having the confidence and coming into the game and doing the same thing that I do in practice. And I think it’s converted pretty well.”
