COLUMBIA — South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley had all 10 players for the first time since the season opener.
Sophomore Maddy McDaniel returned to action in the 121-49 win over Queens on Nov. 23 after missing games due to a combination of a suspension and injury. Staley didn’t disclose the cause of suspension but addressed her return.
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“Maddie is a great young lady,” Staley said when asked what she saw from McDaniel that allowed the suspension to end. “She is of great character but some choices you make have consequences. It was more on Maddie and how she’s communicating with me, our staff and her teammates.”
McDaniel has missed four games for the No. 2 Gamecocks (6-0). She scored two points in 12 minutes and had three assists against the Royals.
“Her teammates are the ones that were her voice and they had a more powerful voice when it comes to that,” Staley continued. “Obviously they like Maddie, they like all their teammates and want our entire team together and they voiced that.”
In the record-setting win that marked the most points scored in a single game under Staley, starting point guard Raven Johnson played 22 minutes with McDaniel back, scoring 12 points.
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“We were very excited when Maddy came back, she just brings another energy to our team” Johnson said. “When we first started practice, we had a circle and she’s was part of that circle. When she’s gone, you could feel that presence not there.”
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Staley’s team proved in the past two games that it has a bevy of scorers. Joyce Edwards had 25 points and Ta’Niya Latson had 24 against Queens, their second straight games with more than 20. Madina Okot had another double-double and reserve center Adhel Tac had her first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
The Gamecocks shot 66.2% from the field and had 26 assists on 43 made field goals. Their defense forced 21 turnovers and scored 56 fast-break points. They averaged 1.5 points per possession and made 28-of-33 layups.
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With a difficult slate of games away from home, a full roster is critical. South Carolina will play Duke on Nov. 26 in Las Vegas, then either UCLA or Texas the next day, both of the latter two teams likely ranked in the top 5 at tipoff.
“It’s imperative that we have all 10,” Staley said. “It was really good to get Maddie back especially for a few practices. We’re just going to acclimate her back into the swing of things. I thought she did great but it’s needed, for our rotations, for us to practice, needed for just some of our younger players to stay in the positions that they need to be in to be effective.”
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley on Maddy McDaniel’s return, full South Carolina roster
