The No. 4 Texas Longhorns (18-1, 3-1) women’s basketball team travel to Columbia, S.C. on Thursday to face the No. 2 South Carolina Gamecocks (17-1, 4-0) for the second time in the 2025-26 season. The Gamecocks lead
the series 5-4 against the Longhorns, but earlier in the season, the two juggernauts clashed in the Players Era Championship final in Las Vegas with the Longhorns beating the Gamecocks in a tight matchup with a game-winning shot, 66-64.
Head coach Dawn Staley leads the Gamecocks with a defense that continues to be the difference for the program. South Carolina ranks 13th in the nation in points allowed with 53.6 and third in field-goal percentage allowing .319. South Carolina leads the SEC in scoring defense (55.25) and is second in field-goal percentage defense (.325). The Gamecocks rank 23rd in the nation with a .366 three-point field-goal percentage and have shot 41.3 percent against ranked opponents in addition to ranking fourteenth in nation in scoring (20.7 ppg) and twelfth in field goal percentage (.606).
Senior guard Ta’Niya Latson leads the Gamecocks with the most efficient season of her career, shooting 50.9 percent from the field, including 41.0 percent from 3-point range, and scoring 1.09 points per possession and 1.22 points per shot attempt. Latson is 10th in the SEC scoring 16.3 points per game and 13th in the conference with 3.9 assists per game recently bringing points per game average to 9.0 points per game meaning she has her hands on 27.3 percent of the team’s total offense.
Senior guard Raven Johnson sits nineteenth shooting 14.5 points per lin conference play and is 19th-best in the SEC while hitting .550 field goal percentage putting her third in conference. Senior Madina Okot leads the nation with 13 double doubles and eighth in rebounds per game (11.3), 11th in field goal percentage (.609) and 14th in offensive rebounds per game (4.2). Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards cleans the boards averaging 3.5 offensive rebounds while handing out 2.5 assists per game and defensively is ninth in the SEC with 1.4 blocks per game and 14th in steals per game at 1.9.
Head coach Vic Schaefer stands at the helm for the No. 4 Longhorns averaging 90.3 points per game making them third in the NCAA while holding their opponents to 53.2 points per game. Madison Booker leads Texas, averaging 19.2 points per game while shooting 52.0 percent percent from the field with 7.3 boards per game and 76 assists, 48 steals, and 13 blocks. Guard Rori Harmon lends a hand aiding the Longhorns by tossing out 140 assists and has turned the ball over only 26 times in the 2025-26 season to lead the country in assist-to-turnover ratio while snagging 56 steals. Sophomore guard Jordan Lee has averaged 14.8 points per game averaging 43.3 percent from the field along side junior forward Breya Cunningham who has been hitting 60 percent from the field, averaging 5.4 rebounds, and 21 blocks.. Off the bench, senior center Kyla Oldacre comes off the bench to hold the paint down averaging 12.3 points per game, knocking 66.9 percent from the field, and with 21 blocks for Texas. The Longhorns rank twelfth in the nation averaging 27 bench points per game.
Tip at Colonial Life Arena is at 6 pm. Central on ESPN2.
