Five Gamecocks Earn Recognition from SEC Coaches
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Five members of the SEC Champion South Carolina women’s basketball team were recognized by the SEC coaches with postseason awards today, led by First-Team All-SEC selection Joyce Edwards and SEC Sixth Woman of the Year MiLaysia Fulwiley. Senior Te-Hina Paopao joined Fulwiley on the All-SEC Second Team. Senior Sania Feagin and junior Raven Johnson earned spots on the All-Defensive Team, and Edwards was on the All-Freshman Team.
Edwards becomes the third Gamecock freshman to earn First-Team All-SEC status, joining A’ja Wilson (2015) and Aliyah Boston (2020). The Camden, S.C., product is the Gamecocks’ top scorer overall (13.0 ppg), in SEC action (14.4 ppg) and against ranked opponents (11.8 ppg). On the season, her .558 field goal percentage ranks fourth in the SEC and 29th in the nation. Her 57.2 percent shooting in league play is second-best among SEC players. The four-time SEC Freshman of the Week, Edwards has been the Gamecocks’ top scorer in a team-high 13 games, including seven against ranked opponents. Her three doubles-doubles include the first of her career against #15/15 Iowa State (Nov. 28) and two in SEC play.
Fulwiley is the third Gamecock to be named SEC Sixth Woman of the Year, joining former All-Americans Alaina Coates (2014) and Kamilla Cardoso (2023). The dynamic sophomore thrived in SEC play, ranking among the league’s best defensively and rising up the Gamecocks’ scoring ranks as well. Fulwiley’s season scoring average rose nearly two points since the start of league play to her current 11.9 points per game, including 13. 4 per SEC contest on 41.5 percent shooting. Her scoring has come on fewer than 20 minutes per game this season, putting her points per 40 minutes at a team-high 24.9 She has three 20-point games, including 20 against #9/13 TCU and a career-high tying 24 at Vanderbilt. Defensively, she is ninth in the league in 1.94 steals per SEC game and 10th with 0.94 blocks per league outing. She has seven games of three or more steals, highlighted by a career-high five against Florida and four – all in the fourth quarter – against #15/14 Kentucky in the regular-season finale.
Paopao is the steady engine that makes the Gamecocks go with her veteran clam and leadership. Her 10.2 points per game this season include 11.5 per game against ranked opponents. She is shooting 45.7 percent from the field, highlighted by 49.6 percent shooting overall and 40.0 from 3-point range against ranked teams. She leads the team with 3.0 assists per game and is second in the SEC with a 2.57 assist-to-turnover ratio, which ranks 16th in the nation. In SEC play, her 3.44 assists per game are 12th-best in the league, and her 2.39 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth.
Feagin has been a physical defensive presence beyond her 6-foot-3 frame, ranking sixth in the SEC with 1.60 blocks per game on the season, including 2.06 per SEC game, which ranks second. She has six games of at least three blocks, including six in the Gamecocks’ win over Texas and five in a key win at Ole Miss.
Johnson has long been the tip of the spear that is the Gamecock defense, which ranks fifth in the nation in field goal percentage defense (.350) and is second in the SEC in scoring defense in conference play (57.94 ppg). She leads the team with 1.48 steals per game with six games of at least three steals, including three SEC games of five or more swipes.
No. 5 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 fourth straight season and will open play in the quarterfinals on Fri., March 7, 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.
2025 SEC Awards
Player of the Year: Madison Booker, Texas
Coach of the Year: Vic Schaefer, Texas
Defensive Player of the Year: Clara Strack, Kentucky
Freshman of the Year: Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Newcomer of the Year: Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
Sixth Woman of the Year: MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina
Scholar-Athlete of the Year: Grace Slaughter, Missouri
All-SEC First Team
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alabama
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Madison Booker, Texas
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Mikaylah Williams, LSU
All-SEC Second Team
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina
DeYona Gaston, Auburn
Jerkaila Jordan Mississippi State
Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Madison Scott, Ole Miss
Clara Strack, Kentucky
Payton Verhulst, Oklahoma
All-Freshman Team
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Yuting Deng, Auburn
Joyce Edwards, South Carolina
Jordan Lee, Texas
Liv McGill, Florida
Sira Thienou, Ole Miss
Trinity Turner, Georgia
Mia Woolfolk, Georgia
All-Defensive Team
Talaysia Cooper, Tennessee
Sania Feagin, South Carolina
Rori Harmon, Texas
Raven Johnson, South Carolina
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Clara Strack, Kentucky
