Joyce Edwards should be familiar with big stages, given how much elite basketball she has played early in her life.
At the state level, she starred in multiple South Carolina High School League 3-A championship games, including two won by Camden High School during her junior and senior years. Edwards has already represented USA Basketball and claimed multiple gold medals in international competitions. And in her first season at South Carolina, she has featured in a number of nationally-televised contests.
That stage only grows larger as regular season and conference tournament play transitions to the “Big Dance.” For Edwards, no matter the profile of the game, there will always be some level of nerves associated with it.
“I feel like I’m nervous before every game, so that doesn’t necessarily change,” Edwards said on Thursday.
She did not make those nerves visibly apparent in her NCAA Tournament debut – arguably, the biggest stage she has played on in her college basketball career. Edwards put up a strong individual performance in the Gamecocks’ 108-48 tournament-opening victory over Tennessee Tech, which set a single-game program record for scoring offense during March Madness.
“Every game, you come in, you don’t really know what to expect. So, once you get your first bucket or your first rebounds, the nerves settle down,” Edwards said. “(I’m) just excited to play in the NCAA Tournament. This is why we come here. (I’m) just making the most of my opportunity.”
Edwards got her first taste of postseason action during the SEC Tournament one week prior to Friday’s game. She recorded double-digit points in all three of South Carolina’s games, including a tournament-high 21 against Oklahoma. It was the fourth time she had eclipsed 20 points in a contest this season.
