Transfer is a perfect addition for Gamecocks

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina was a team high on talent but low on experience last summer. Te-Hina Paopao brought both to the Gamecocks for a season that’s just four victories away from perfection.

Paopao, a transfer from Oregon, has started 33 of 34 games and been a steadying hand after seven seniors, the core of the team that made the past three Final Fours and won the 2022 national title, left after last season.

“Pao,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said, using the player’s nickname, “gives us something we didn’t have.”

Paopao and the top-seeded Gamecocks (34-0) advanced to the Sweet 16 for a 10th consecutive tournament and play No. 4 seed Indiana (26-5) in Albany, New York, today at 5 p.m. (ESPN) to move a step closer to a title. They are seeking to become the 10th team in Division I women’s basketball history to have a perfect championship season.

Paopao hopes to deliver, as she has all season.

She leads the country in 3-point shooting (47.1%). Paopao also has been a guiding hand with a light touch to teammates whose experience mostly had come in garbage time, or giving All-Americans like Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke a breather the past few seasons.

When Raven Johnson went on about Paopao’s stellar offense and knowledge of the game, a smiling Paopao countered: “Defensively nothing? Just offense?”

Paopao has savored every moment this season after crossing the continent to continue her basketball journey.

She was a five-star prospect in high school in the Los Angeles suburbs and has overcome two knee ligament tears. Paopao was a two-time All-Pac 12 selection with the Ducks, who reached the Sweet 16 in her freshman season. But Paopao felt at a crossroad after her junior season, and she and her family decided a change might do her good.

“For sure, I lost a little bit of it,” she said of her love of basketball.

That changed with the Gamecocks. Paopao is third on the team in scoring at 11.2 points a game and second to Johnson in assists.

Kamilla Cardoso, the 6-foot-7 All-SEC forward who is the Gamecocks’ top scorer, said Paopao was an instant leader when she arrived. “We’ve got a lot of young players and she helps just by using her voice,” Cardoso said.

Staley didn’t know Paopao before she arrived but has come to admire her willingness to give all she has to make South Carolina a success.

“She’s just very comfortable in her skin and giving us who she is,” Staley said. “I don’t know if that’s a growth thing for us. Over time, she’s really just peeled down her layers and she’s given us all of her in a short period of time.”

Paopao always seems to give the Gamecocks what they need. She had a season-high 21 points in an 83-65 rout of then-11th-ranked UConn last month while Cardoso was competing in Olympic qualifying with the Brazilian national team.

Win or lose, that time is not over. The day after Paopao was celebrated at Senior Day on March 3, she announced she was putting off the pros and returning to South Carolina.

The call from her and her father, Paul, posted on social media had Paul thanking Staley and saying his daughter had rediscovered what the game meant to her.

“In your program, she found a place she could flourish, be happy and revive her love for the game of basketball,” Paul Paopao told Staley.

Paopao gave voice to that familial bond at the bittersweet championship SEC Tournament ceremony, where four of her teammates — Cardoso, Chloe Kitts, Tessa Johnson and Sakima Walker, all ejected for their role in a late skirmish — could not celebrate their shared success.

“It was heartbreaking,” Paopao said after South Carolina’s 79-72 victory over LSU. “We couldn’t have done it without them. We’re a team for a reason. We’re a family.”