South Carolina players ‘soak in this sucky feeling’ in hopes of returning stronger

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TAMPA, Fla. — South Carolina coach Dawn Staley knew her leading scorer was stewing and smarting after the 23-point blowout loss to UConn in Sunday’s national championship.

Staley did nothing to stop what Joyce Edwards was feeling. She didn’t want to.

“I let her sit in her sadness,” Staley said. “Sometimes letting them sit in their sadness is much more powerful than breaking that train of thought.”

If the Gamecocks can rebound from losing a shot at a third national title in four seasons, the road back to glory started there — somewhere around the losing locker room at Amalie Arena in the heart or mind of a budding, hurting star.

After a rough, four–point performance in the Elite Eight, Edwards bounced back in Friday’s semifinal with a double-double that helped beat Texas. It was a teachable moment for a freshman who was the 2023-24 high school national player of the year.

“I showed my resilience,” Edwards said. “I feel like I pushed through, and that was the game that showed it.”

Sunday was a different kind of learning experience. Ten points and three rebounds off the bench, but a result Edwards dreaded.

“I know what it feels like to lose,” Edwards said, “and I don’t want to be here again.”

Joyce Edwards is fired up about the future.

“We don’t want to feel this again. It makes me sick.” pic.twitter.com/6rvC0oJNbW

— Julia Westerman (@JuliaWesterman) April 7, 2025

Edwards will play a major role in whether her team gets back to this stage and leaves with a different result. She’s not the only one.

All four of Sunday’s top scorers for South Carolina are set to return: Edwards, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts and Tessa Johnson. The Gamecocks’ top rebounder and draft-eligible guard Raven Johnson said in the locker room that she has already decided whether to remain at South Carolina or head to the WNBA, but she wasn’t ready to announce anything yet. (Rules dictate that Johnson has 48 hours from the end of the championship game to decide.) That leaves only three notable, guaranteed departures: all-conference guard Te-Hina Paopao and two of the SEC’s better defenders, Bree Hall and Sania Feagin.

Paopao’s message to the players she’s leaving behind?

“Soak this sucky feeling in, but you gotta come back and use this as a motivator,” Paopao said. “Come back next season and get back to where we were this year.”
Championship contention remains a reasonable expectation for Staley’s program, even after a disappointing end. But there’s plenty of work ahead.

“UConn is going to be our rivalry for the next few years, we gotta get better.”

MiLaysia Fulwiley on what UConn did well tonight int heir championship win and where South Carolina needs to improve for the future.@abc_columbia | #Gamecocks pic.twitter.com/xMI6HnAiji

— Noah Chast (@NoahChastTV) April 6, 2025

The Gamecocks found ways to win all season with depth. Nine players saw at least 15 minutes of action against Texas, and none played more than 30 minutes Sunday. But a strong bench couldn’t compete with the star power of UConn’s Paige Bueckers, Sarah Strong and Azzi Fudd.

Staley said the Huskies “flat-out beat” her Gamecocks, and it’s hard to argue otherwise. South Carolina got out-rebounded (40-36), committing two more turnovers and recorded half as many assists. The Gamecocks held one of the nation’s best 3-point shooting teams to 4 of 17 from outside … and still lost by 23. It was an across-the-board beatdown that exposed a team that needs to continue developing its top talents.

And that leads back to the stewing scorer Staley didn’t want to disturb.

“She’s an incredible player…,” Hall said of Edwards. “And she’s going to come back for more. It’s not over for her at all.”

Edwards and the rest of the Gamecocks’ nucleus will be getting reinforcements. South Carolina has signed a pair of top-30 national high school recruits, Agot Makeer and Ayla McDowell.

Before the Final Four tipped off, Staley brought up the name, image and likeness funds that have already been raised and are ready to be dispersed to retain key players or add more. After Sunday’s loss, she referenced “some things in the works” through the transfer portal and the need to find veteran leaders who can add to the younger returning talent.

The returning talent that started walking to the locker room before the final pieces of UConn’s celebratory confetti finished fluttering to the floor to sit in sadness, just as Staley wanted.

“I hope they’re crying,” Staley said. “I hope they’re boo-hooing because from crying they have emotion about losing, (it) makes you work hard in the offseason. Makes you look at it and really analyze what the separation is from their program and our program and how we close the gap with that.

“They’re very talented, and I think they got a great experience of playing at this level that I hope they have a desire to get back here and do all the things it takes to play in the national championship game and to deliver the blows that’s needed to win.”

(Photo of MiLaysia Fulwiley: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)

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