TAMPA, Fla. — When Raven Johnson buried a 3-pointer in the first minute of South Carolina’s Elite Eight victory over Duke, it seemed like the Gamecocks had their mojo back from the outside. The Gamecocks were 3-of-4 from beyond the arc after a couple bad games, and cruising.

South Carolina only even attempted four shots from the perimeter over the next 29 minutes, and none dropped.

This has been the continuation of a sluggish six weeks for South Carolina’s outside shooters, excluding one outstanding performance to open the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks shot 12-of-19 from 3-point range against No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech. Those dozen makes alone account for more than a quarter of South Carolina’s made 3-pointers in the last 10 games combined, 12 out of 46.

Outside of the Tennessee Tech game? The Gamecocks are 34-of-115 from 3-point range in the other nine, a ghastly 29.6 percent that checks in nearly a full five percent below the season average prior to the stretch.

All of it has also led to fewer 3-point attempts as the offense has desperately searched for other ways to score. South Carolina has only attempted 36 shots from beyond the arc over the last three games, its second-lowest clip for any three-game stretch this season.

“It’s really just us adjusting to how teams are playing us,” Maddy McDaniel said. “It’s not really something where we’re going in with a mindset that we’re going to shoot less. It’s just adjusting to the game.”

All of it leads up to a fourth meeting against the Texas Longhorns on Friday night at 7 p.m., an opponent famous both for limiting 3-point attempts and not taking very many themselves.

The first three match-ups between the teams have been an exercise in playing inside the arc, an almost impossible lack of 3-point shooting for two teams in 2025 given the modern climate of basketball.

January’s game at Colonial Life Arena saw just 12 combined attempts. The Gamecocks launched more over the next two attempts, but only went 8-of-32 against a tight Texas defense built with its guards to jam teams on the outside. And Texas, across 120 minutes against South Carolina, has shot just 2-of-17 (11.8 percent) from deep.

“We probably haven’t shot it as well as we shot it last year,” Dawn Staley said in Birmingham. “But when you make winning the points in the paint battle an emphasis, and you defend, you give yourself an opportunity to really win some tough basketball games and compete for a national championship.”

By any reasonable estimation, Friday’s semifinal is going to be a rock fight. Neither offense is playing its best basketball of the season, and the average point total for the teams in the match-up has been just 59. The high-water mark for either team was just 67, done by the Gamecocks in the January meeting.

But if South Carolina has any hope of getting back to its early season form, it might have to lie with an individual. Te-Hina Paopao and Tessa Johnson in particular have been sharpshooters all year and nowhere near their best selves over the last three games.

Paopao and Johnson are a combined 2-of-11 from 3-point attempts in the last three games. For two players who on average attempt a combined 6.7 3s per game, only having 11 between them in three is staggering. There is a direct correlation between two players with 99 times total makes this year hitting two in 120 minutes and the Gamecock offense regressing sharply.

“I think we have to play outside-inside,” Johnson said. “Get rhythm kind of shots. Sometimes the basket is not going to fall, but it has to happen that way.”

So far, they have made it work without one of their biggest weapons. Maybe they can scrape past Texas again without them in a match-up perfectly suited to play in the paint.

But if the Gamecocks are going to win two games in Tampa and cut down a net on Sunday, it feels like it’s now or never for outside shooting.

Both in terms of makes, and even just attempts.

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