She is still over four months away from making her South Carolina debut, but Joyce Edwards is already putting up big numbers.

The highest-rated recruit in South Carolina women’s basketball’s incoming class for the 2024-25 season helped lead the United States U18 national team to a gold medal at the AmeriCup, sweeping through the competition in Columbia and capping it off with an 80-69 win over Canada in Sunday’s gold medal contest.

Edwards, the Camden, S.C. native, won tournament MVP with six strong performances. Overall for the week she scored 85 points, corralled 43 rebounds, dished out seven assists and tacked on a dozen steals as the team captain. Her two highest scoring games were a pair of 17-point outbursts in the final group stage game against Mexico and the semifinal against Argentina, and she also turned in a double-double against Puerto Rico in the second group stage game with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

She saved her best performance for the most important game of all, though. Team USA’s only tight game of the week was the gold medal contest against Canada, a single-digit game deep into the fourth quarter with the tournament title at stake. Edwards scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in the final, adding on five steals and even hitting a 3-pointer at the first half buzzer.

She is one of three incoming true freshmen for Dawn Staley’s team, along with guard Madisen McDaniel and forward Adhel Tac. South Carolina will open its National Championship defense on Nov. 4 against Michigan in Las Vegas.

*************************************************************************

Want 2 months free on your Rivals subscription? Refer a friend and they'll get 50% off their first year while you get 2 months free, and the best part? You can do it as many times as you want. Just use your custom referral link on your subscriptions page (linked above).