The South Carolina Gamecocks, featuring former Oregon Ducks standout Te-Hina Paopao, have won the national championship.
The best player from the Oregon Ducks, who moved to South Carolina prior to the season, was instrumental in the Gamecocks’ (38-0) victory, making them just the 10th team in women’s collegiate basketball history to finish a season unbeaten.
“We’ve made great progress. After the game, Paopao told reporters, “It’s been a long journey.” “Over the season, we have placed so much trust in one another. We are extremely in love and confident with one another. We may come across as a broken record, but this program and this team are all about love.
In 22 minutes, Paopao scored 14 points on 4-of-7 shooting and nailed three of her four 3-point attempts. She led Division I in 3-point shooting (46.7%), so it was not surprising that she was accurate from beyond the arc.
The Hawkeyes got off to a disastrous start, leading 10-0 and 18-7 in the first quarter before the Gamecocks rallied. The Gamecocks remained calm, sticking to their strategy and gradually regaining control of the match.
Paopao was a senior who gave the younger Gamecocks a steady hand. The squad that advanced to the Final Four the previous season eliminated coach Dawn Staley’s starting five as a whole. Part of the reason South Carolina fell to Iowa in the previous season’s national tournament was their patchy outside shooting.
Paopao attended Oregon for three seasons, where, as a freshman and sophomore, she was selected to the Pac-12 first team. With 42.4% of her shots made from beyond the arc, Paopao was among the best 3-point shooters in the country. During the previous season, she averaged 13.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game.
After Paopao entered the transfer portal, her accuracy and the Gamecocks’ needs were a perfect match. When Stiill’s high school coach informed her that Staley was considering sending her to Columbia, South Carolina, she claimed to have been astonished.
“South Carolina is calling about you,” she says, and I’m like, ‘Who?’ Carolina in the South? Paopao told the Greenville News, “Don’t play with me.” They just stated that they felt I was the missing component and that they needed someone like me. They’ll undoubtedly add more players, but I think they could have used someone with my level of experience—a veteran who has played in the Pac-12 and seen it all.”
During the season, Paopao, who averaged 11 points, 3.8 assists, and 2.7 rebounds per game, claimed she loved playing under Staley and that the coach would make people “run through brick walls.”
She improves people’s life. Paopao told reporters, “I wish you guys could experience that and just how much she’s helped me as a player and as a woman.” “Man, she’s just incredible.” It’s fortunate. It’s so much fun to just play with her. People simply adore having fun with her. For her, people would sprint through brick walls.
It’s unfathomable to be able to have a coach like him. It truly is a blessing for all of us to have someone of her caliber advocating for us. She simply made a positive difference in our lives. Next season, Paopao will run it once more. She has declared that she will use her COVID-19 extra year of eligibility to rejoin the Gamecocks.