Joyce Edwards scored 21 points and Madina Okot added 17 as No. 3 South Carolina defeated No. 17 Mississippi, 85-48, on Sunday to secure at least a share of the Southeastern Conference (SEC) regular-season championship.
With this win, South Carolina improved to 27-2 overall and 13-1 in SEC play. The Gamecocks can claim the outright conference title by winning one of their final two games against Missouri or Kentucky next week. This victory also marks their 21st consecutive win over Mississippi, dating back to February 2009, and secures them the top seed in the upcoming SEC Tournament in Greenville.
The game took place with ESPN GameDay present and four-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson attending. South Carolina maintained its strong record against Ole Miss, ensuring another decisive victory.
Mississippi came into the game looking to recover from a recent loss to LSU where they surrendered a double-digit lead late in the game. Early on, Ole Miss kept it close and trailed only by four after Christeen Iwuala’s basket early in the second quarter.
South Carolina responded with a decisive run before halftime, closing out the second period on a 17-5 stretch that included two three-pointers from Okot, who transferred from Mississippi State. Okot finished with a double-double—her sixth this season against ranked opponents and her eighteenth overall—by collecting ten rebounds along with her scoring output. She also contributed four blocks and was perfect from three-point range (3-of-3).
Ole Miss struggled offensively against South Carolina’s defense, managing just 26.5 percent shooting—their lowest percentage this season—and being outscored on fast breaks by a margin of 30-4. Cotie McMahon, who entered as one of the SEC’s leading scorers at over twenty points per game, was held scoreless from the field and finished with just two points.
Iwuala led Mississippi with twelve points and ten rebounds.
All ten players for South Carolina scored during the contest; it was the eleventh time this season each Gamecock has put up points in a single game. The team was also perfect at the free throw line for the first time this year (13-for-13).
Other notable performances included Joyce Edwards recording her seventeenth twenty-point game of the season—a mark surpassed only twice by other Gamecocks over the past twenty-five years—and Ta’Niya Latson finishing with thirteen points plus contributions in assists, steals, and blocks.
Maryam Dauda delivered an efficient performance off the bench with perfect shooting from both free throws (4-for-4) and field goals (2-for-2), along with five rebounds and tying her season high for blocks at three.
