Five South Carolina women's basketball players have received All-SEC First or Second Team honors, the conference announced Tuesday. The total selections ties the conference record set by Tennessee in 2001.
Junior guard Tessa Johnson, senior guard Raven Johnson, senior guard Ta'Niya Latson and senior center Madina Okot received All-SEC Second Team honors. Sophomore forward Joyce Edwards was voted to All-SEC First Team for the second time in as many seasons.
Edwards becomes the third player in program history to be named to the conference's First Team in her first two seasons and just the ninth Gamecock to earn the honor more than once. Her 19.8 points per game this past season ranked third in the SEC, and her 59.0% success rate from the field ranked fifth in the conference. This season, she reached 1,000 career points in her 64th career game, becoming the fifth fastest Gamecock to reach the mark.
Raven Johnson posted career bests this season in points per game, 10.0; shooting percentage, 49.6%; 3-point shooting, 38.0%; and assists per game, 5.4; also receiving SEC All-Defensive team honors for the second consecutive season. On offense, Raven Johnson ranked fourth in the country with a 3.6 assist-to-turnover ratio. This is her second career selection to the All-SEC Second Team, having been named to the team last season. She was also named the SEC Defensive Player of the Year, the fifth player in program history to receive the honor.
Tessa Johnson finished the season as the SEC's best 3-point shooter, making 44.0% of her attempts from beyond the arc. She made at least four 3-pointers in six games in the regular season. Averaging a career-high 13.1 points, she scored in double figures in 22 of her 29 games, adding four 20-point outings in the process. The selection to the All-SEC Second Team is the first such honor of her career.
Latson's 14.6 points per game this season ranked 16th in the SEC this season. She ranks in the conference's top 15 in five different categories across both sides of the ball. Shooting 49.8% from the field, scoring 1.04 points per possession and 1.17 points per scoring attempt, all three marks ranked eighth in the conference and set personal career highs. Her 2.2 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fifth in the SEC, and her 3.5 assists per game rank 15th. She shot 80.0% from the charity stripe this season, the seventh best rate in the conference, and averaged 1.9 steals per game, which ranked 11th.
Okot averaged 16.0 points and 14.1 rebounds per game in the final seven games of the regular season, posting seven consecutive double-doubles. Her 20 double-doubles on the year are the third most in the nation and the seventh most in program single-season history. She led the SEC in rebounding this season at 10.9 per game, the 13th best mark in the country. She shot 59.8% from the field this season, which ranked third in the conference and 11th in the nation. She ranked fifth in the SEC in blocks per game with 1.6.
South Carolina heads to Greenville this Friday, March 6, for the SEC Tournament, where the team drew the bracket's top seed for the fifth consecutive season. Tipoff will be at noon on ESPN, and the Gamecocks will face off against one of Arkansas, Kentucky or Georgia.