Depth is usually the first word that comes up when talking about Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks. This season, though, injuries have thinned that margin. Last year, their leading scorer was a freshman forward from the bench, Joyce Edwards. Now, with the roster stretched and roles reshuffled, the sophomore has been pushed into the starting lineup. However, instead of fading, she’s thriving.

For the fifth time this season, the Gamecocks cracked the 100-point scoring mark, blowing past South Florida 103–44. And at the heart of it all was Joyce Edwards. The sophomore forward poured in a career-high 34 points, putting on a show that had Dawn Staley singing her praises after the game.

“Joyce is a competitor. Joyce wants to score a lot of points, and she’s very capable of doing that. But Joyce isn’t just a scorer, she’s a really great playmaker. She can make the play that’s supposed to be made,” Staley said in the postgame press conference. “She’s developing quite nicely. I think the most important thing about Joyce is that she’s a competitor. She wants to win.”

Edwards missed her second shot of the night, then went on to make her next 13 attempts, finishing an incredible 14-of-15 from the field, all from inside the arc. Her dominance in the paint powered South Carolina to a massive 74–28 edge in points in the paint. She also added five rebounds and one assist to cap off her big night.

Edwards entered the game averaging a team-high 20.3 points per contest, a big jump from the 12.7 she posted while leading South Carolina last season. She’s now scored 20 or more points in seven games this year, and over her last three outings, she’s been on another level, averaging 29.3 points, 6.3 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 3.7 steals, and 3.0 blocks while shooting a scorching 78.3 percent from the floor.

And that’s not all. Edwards has become the first Gamecock since A’ja Wilson to record three straight 25-plus-point games. Oh, and did we mention she’s done it with back-to-back career highs?

South Carolina shot a blistering 62.9% from the floor. The Gamecocks also handed out 20 assists on 44 made baskets, racked up 38 points off turnovers, and added 34 more in transition, powering their way to a win that lifted their record to 11–1 on the season.

When asked about her big night, here’s what Joyce Edwards had to say.

Joyce Edwards Reflects on Her Career-High Game

Since her season-low 12-point outing against Louisville on Dec. 4, Edwards has been on an absolute tear, shooting 36-of-46 from the floor. She hasn’t missed more than nine shots in any game all season, and in five of those games, she’s missed four or fewer. And when asked about her performance afterward, Edwards kept it short and simple.

“All about doing what the game gives you,” Edwards told ESPN after the game. “At the end of the day, I’m a basketball player, I’ve been playing for a while so I just got out there and play basketball.”

The sophomore forward has seen a huge jump in minutes this season, averaging 30.5 per game after playing just 21.4 a season ago. A lot of that comes down to South Carolina’s ongoing injury crisis, which has often forced Dawn Staley to lean on an eight- or nine-player rotation. Against USF, the bench managed just 15 points, a clear sign of how different this Gamecocks team looks compared to past seasons, where depth was always their calling card.

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South Carolina wants its championship crown back, and for that to happen, Joyce Edwards will have to keep playing at this incredible level. But can she sustain it when the pressure only gets tougher? What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!