Edwards Named SEC and USBWA Player of the Week
COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball sophomore Joyce Edwards picked up conference and national recognition today for her efforts in a pair of wins last week, during which she shot 82.4 percent from the field.. Edwards was named the SEC Player of the Week by the league office and was among the USBWA’s National Players of the Week.
Edwards stretched her streak of scoring 25 or more points to four games, marking the longest such streak by a Gamecock since Shannon Johnson posted five straight in the 1995-96 season. Her 34 points at USF marked the highest scoring game by a since A’ja Wilson scored 34 against Notre Dame on Nov. 26, 2017. Edwards went 14-of-15 (.933) from the field to post the second-highest single-game field goal percentage in program history. She scored seven points in the game’s first six minutes to establish an early lead against the Bulls.
At FGCU, Edwards poured in 17 of her 29 points in the first half along and completed her second double-double of the season with 10 rebounds. Seven of those came on the offensive end, four of which she immediately turned into eight points.
For the season, Edwards is 10th in the nation with 22.0 points per game and eighth in field goal percentage at .628. She also ranks sixth in the SEC in blocks per game (1.62) and comes in 12th in steals per game (2.08). She has scored at least 20 points eight time in the Gamecocks’ first 13 games of the season and been in double figures in every outing.
The other USBWA selections were Audi Crooks (Iowa State), Hannah Hidalgo (Notre Dame), Olivia Miles (TCU) and Sarah Strong (UConn).
No. 3/3 South Carolina is back in action on Sun., Dec. 28, hosting Providence at Colonial Life Arena. The noon tipoff on SEC Network will be the Gamecocks’ final tune-up before conference play begins on Thu., Jan. 1.
Stay tuned to GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for more information on the season ahead.
