Gamecocks match league record with five All-SEC Selections

COLUMBIA, S.C. – SEC champion South Carolina matched the league record with a combined five players named to the All-SEC first and second teams as voted by league coaches and announced today by the SEC office. Sophomore Joyce Edwards drew first-team honors for the second time in as many seasons, and senior Raven Johnson grabbed the SEC Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming just the eighth guard and the fifth Gamecock to claim the title. She joined the remaining three members of the Gamecocks’ starting lineup in Tessa Johnson, Ta’Niya Latson and Madina Okot on the All-SEC Second Team. Tennessee originally set the record of five selections in 2001.

In repeating her All-SEC First Team selection, Edward becomes just the ninth Gamecock to claim the honor in multiple seasons and just the third to do it in her first two seasons in Columbia. She is just the sixth Gamecock sophomore to claim first-team recognition in the SEC. The award comes as the forward is among the nation’s best offensive players, ranking 20th in scoring at 19.8 points per game and 17th in field goal percentage at .590. Her 18 20-point games ranks fifth in program single-season history, and she became the fifth-fastest Gamecock to reach 1,000 career points this season, hitting the milestone in just her 64th career game. Edwards stuffed the stat sheet for the Gamecocks with her 6.3 rebounds per game coming in 18th in the SEC, her 2.7 offensive boards per game ranking 15th, and both her 1.1 blocks and 1.8 steals per game slotting in as 12th-best in the conference.

Raven Johnson joined former Gamecocks Ieasia Walker (2013), A’ja Wilson (2016, 2018), Aliyah Boston (2020, 2021, 2022, 2023) and Kamilla Cardoso (2024) as an SEC Defensive Player of the Year and is on the SEC All-Defensive Team for the second-straight season. She is also now a two-time Second-Team All-SEC selection, having originally claimed the award in 2024. Johnson sets the tone for the Gamecock defense, which leads the SEC in scoring defense and is second in field goal percentage defense in league play. With her on the court, ranked opponents scored nearly 10 fewer points per 100 possessions and saw their field goal percentage drop from 41.8 percent when she was on the bench to 38.3 percent when she was in the game – with 3-point shooting dropping more dramatically from 35.1 to 26.8 percent. As a primary defender against the 13 other All-SEC selections she guarded, Johnson allowed just 0.653 points per possession compared to the 0.813 they scored on other Gamecock defenders. Even as her defense proved to be elite, Johnson is enjoying a career offensive season as well, posting career numbers of 10.0 points per game, 49.6 percent shooting, 38.0 percent 3-point shooting and 5.4 assists per game. She is fourth in the country with a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio and her assist average ranks 26th in the NCAA.

Tessa Johnson is also enjoying a career season, as she ranks 11th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage with an SEC-best .440 mark. Her 2.5 made 3s per game rank sixth in the league. She has six games of at least four made 3s. Her career-best 13.1 points per game include 13.3 per game against ranked opponents. She has scored in double figures in 22 of her 29 games this season, including four 20-point outings. Beyond her own scoring, Johnson hands out 2.6 assists per game and averages 3.4 rebounds.

Latson is 16th in the SEC with 14.6 points per game and ranks among the league’s top 15 in five categories covering both offense and defense. In the most efficient offensive season of her career, she is eight in the league with a .498 field goal percentage for career highs in points per possession (1.04) and points per scoring attempt (1.17).  She is fifth in the SEC with a 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio and 15th in assists per game at 3.5. Her 80.0 percent free throw shooting is seventh in the league, and her 1.9 steals average ranks 11th.

Okot closed the regular season with a bang, making her case for best center in the nation with seven straight double-doubles, averaging 16.0 points and 14.1 rebounds in the stretch that included five games against ranked opponents. She is third in the nation in double-doubles with her 20 ranking seventh in Gamecock single-season history. Okot is 19th in the SEC with 14.0 points per game on the season and leads the league in rebounding average at 10.9, which is 13th in the country, and offensive rebounds per game at 3.9 to rank 18th in the nation. Her .598 field goal percentage comes in 11th in the nation. Defensively, she is fifth in the SEC with 1.6 blocks per game, which includes 1.8 per SEC outing.

No. 3/3 South Carolina heads to Greenville, S.C., for the SEC Tournament later this week. The Gamecocks drew the No. 1 seed at the event for the fifth straight season and will open play in the quarterfinals on Fri., March 6, at noon on ESPN.

Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball season.

2026 SEC Awards
Player of the Year: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Freshman of the Year: Aubrey Galvan, Vanderbilt
Newcomer of the Year: Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
Defensive Player of the Year: Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Sixth Woman of the Year: MiLaysia Fulwiley, LSU
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Karly Weathers, Alabama
Coach of the Year: Shea Ralph, Vanderbilt

All-SEC First Team
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Madison Booker, Texas
Dani Carnegie, Georgia
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Liv McGill, Florida
Cotie McMahon, Ole Miss
Clara Strack, Kentucky
Mikaylah Williams, LSU

All-SEC Second Team
Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Rori Harmon, Texas
Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Tessa Johnson, South Carolina
Ta’Niya Latson, South Carolina
Tonie Morgan, Kentucky
Madina Okot, South Carolina
Ny’Ceara Pryor, Texa A&M
Grace Slaughter, Missouri
Jessica Timmons, Alabama

All-Freshman Team
Aaliyah Chavez, Oklahoma
Madison Francis, Mississippi State
Aubrey Galvan, Vanderbilt
ZaKiyah Johnson, LSU
Mia Pauldo, Tennessee

All-Defensive Team
Madison Francis, Mississippi State
Rori Harmon, Texas
Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Ny’Ceara Pryor, Texas A&M
Clara Strack, Kentucky

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