COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina guard Raven Johnson is in her prime in this NCAA women’s Tournament.
Johnson, once again, produced on the game’s biggest stage as the top-seeded Gamecocks thoroughly routed No. 16 Tennessee Tech 108-48 on Friday.
The 5-foot-9 junior scored 8 points and added 5 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 steals in the win, which sent the Gamecocks to a second-round matchup against No. 9 Indiana on Sunday. Joyce Edwards led all scorers with 22 points with MiLaysia Fulwiley adding 15, Tessa Johnson chipping in 11 and Chloe Kitts putting up 10.
Last year, Johnson netted 14 points in the Sweet 16 and 13 points in the Final Four en route to the Gamecocks wining their third national championship under head coach Dawn Staley.
Statistically, Johnson has had a down year in terms of point production, averaging just 4.9 points in the regular season. But that has not stopped her from being one of the most critical pieces of the Gamecocks’ game plan.
“My mindset is we just have to win,” she said before Friday’s game. “I have got to help my team win by any means necessary. I don’t start, so I get to see a lot of things happening before I get in.”
Early in Friday’s game, Tennessee Tech had no idea what hit them as Johnson, on back-to-back plays, ripped shots out of the hands of Tennessee Tech shooters before finding Kitts under the basket on otherworldly passes.
“We got pieces, we got threats, we got guards that actually get down. I feel like we do all the little things,” Johnson said. “We do whatever it takes to win.”
Andy Mathis is a student in the University of Georgia’s Sports Media Certificate program.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: South Carolina women’s basketball goes beast mode in March Madness win
