South Carolina women’s basketball senior Te-Hina Paopao was named a finalist for the WBCA Coaches’ All-America team, the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association announced today. It marks the second time in as many seasons that she has been on the list.
Paopao has been the steadying force for the Gamecocks, especially early in the season when her leadership and court vision helped the team find its identity and re-emerge as a frontrunner for SEC and NCAA titles.
Her 9.7 points per game include 10.5 per outing against ranked opponents, against which she has shot 46.6 percent from the field. Paopao is the team’s top distributor with 2.9 assists per game, which rose to 3.44 per SEC contest to rank her 12th in the conference. In addition to ramping up her defensive skills, Paopao has also diversified her offense from being primarily a 3-point shooter last season. This season 49.4 percent of her points have come from the 3-point line, 33.5 percent from the paint and 9.5 percent from midrange compared to 64.1 percent, 21.6 percent and 7.4 percent last season.
No. 2/2 South Carolina earned the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Birmingham 2 Regional and advanced to its 11th-straight NCAA Sweet 16 with a pair of wins last weekend at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks are back in action on Fri., Mar. 28, against No. 18/17 Maryland with tipoff set for 5 p.m. ET.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on South Carolina women’s basketball.
WBCA All-America Finalists
Georgia Amoore, Kentucky
Sarah Ashlee Barker, Alabama
Raegan Beers, Oklahoma
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Mikayla Blakes, Vanderbilt
Madison Booker, Texas
Zoe Brooks, NC State
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Jaloni Cambridge, Ohio State
Sonia Citron, Notre Dame
Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Katie Dinnebier, Drake
Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga
Rori Harmon, Texas
Stailee Heard, Oklahoma State
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
Maud Huijbens, Gonzaga
Kiki Iriafen, Southern Cal
Aziaha James, NC State
Lauren Jensen, Creighton
Flau’Jae Johnson, LSU
Kymora Johnson, Virginia
Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State
Darianna Littlepage-Buggs, Baylor
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State
Brooklyn Meyer, South Dakota State
Olivia Miles, Notre Dame
Emeralda Morales, Montana State
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
S’Mya Nichols, Kansas
Aaliha Nye, Alabama
Lucy Olsen, Iowa
Te-Hina Paopao, South Carolina
Khamil Pierre, Vanderbilt
Sedona prince, TCU
JJ Quinerly, West Virginia
Kiki Rice, UCLA
Saniya Rivers, NC State
Emma Ronsiek, Colorado State
Madison Scott, Ole Miss
Shyanne Sellers, Maryland
Sarah Strong, UConn
Serena Sundell, Kansas State
Makayla Timpson, Florida State
Allie Turner, Gonzaga
Harmoni Turner, Harvard
Hailey Van Lith, TCU
JuJu Watkins, Southern Cal
Mikaylah Williams, LSU
