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Madina Okot's new 3-point shot gives South Carolina's Dawn Staley an undefendable option
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- Madina Okot's new 3-point shot gives South Carolina's Dawn Staley an undefendable option
COLUMBIA — Ole Miss coach Yolett McPhee-McCuin saw Madina Okot play for Mississippi State last year, but the 6-foot-6 center has a new layer to her game for South Carolina women's basketball .
"When I saw her start making 3s I was like '(expletive)' it's over for us," McPhee-McCuin said. "It's one thing to have to battle with her around the basket but she started looking like Steph Curry, I was like we might as well pack it up."
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Okot was 3-of-3 from behind the arc in South Carolina's 85-48 win over Ole Miss on Feb. 22 in Colonial Life Arena, finishing with 17 points and 10 rebounds, her 18th double-double this year.
Okot had just set a career-high for single-game 3-pointers with two against Alabama on Feb. 19 but reset her own record three days later.
She didn't take a 3-point attempt last year but has taken 15 already this season, making eight of them. Okot has South Carolina 's second-highest 3-point percentage at .533, trailing only Alicia Tournebize at .667 (4 of 6).
"I'm getting more confident ... I'm just being me," Okot said when asked if she considers herself a 3-point shooter now.
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In the 68-65 win over Texas on Jan. 15, Okot hit one with 3:32 left to make it a four-point game. She's had her share of high-pressure triples and fluid shots within the offense, like all three were for the Gamecocks (27-2, 13-1 SEC) against the Rebels (21-8, 8-6)
Her first 3-pointer came on a skip pass where she caught it at the top of the key with plenty of time left on the shot clock but she didn't hesitate.
"Just seeing Madina shoot with confidence and have the confidence in the paint, we know were going to win a game when Madina plays like that," said South Carolina starting guard Ta'Niya Latson.
The second was from a similar spot, off a pass from Maddy McDaniel. Legendary Gamecocks center and four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson was in Colonial Life Arena for the game and was seemingly impressed with Okot's shooting, as cameras caught her standing up to celebrate.
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Back in October, coach Dawn Staley previewed Okot's 3-point abilities saying she would close practices down shooting 3-pointers. Staley has said that Okot and 6-7 forward/center Alicia Tournebize always shoot them together after practice.
So when Okot came to South Carolina last spring, did she come to Staley and say she wanted to develop her 3-point shot or did Staley ask her to work on that part of her game?
"You want to put players in position where they're comfortable," Staley said. "Some people can be comfortable taking 3-pointers but they're not accurate. For Madina, she's pretty accurate and she was accurate when she first got here."
Staley said she didn't think anything of it other than another forward/post that "wants to shoot 3s." But once Staley saw Okot could hit them, South Carolina was more intentional about incorporating more 3-point opportunities for her.
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Okot often trails behind after inbounding the ball, so Staley said look at the basket first, see where your feet are before automatically just reversing the ball when she gets it at the top of the key.
"We're licking our chops because I think she's a lot more comfortable facing the basket but ... I think if you mix it up ... if we can get her to take a few more shots outside or take some people off the dribble, we're a better team for that," Staley said.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com . Follow her on X @Lulukesin and Bluesky @bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina star Madina Okot adds 3-point shot for Dawn Staley
