Maryam Dauda's growth, confidence helps Gamecocks beat Sooners

On Feb. 20 after depth forward Maryam Dauda played her best game of the season to date against Arkansas — her former school — Staley had confidence the transfer portal addition, who struggled mightily for most of the season, was due for a breakout.

“She just looked calm and I hope that this performance will allow her to help us,” Staley said just over two weeks ago. “There’s something there.”

Flash forward to the SEC Tournament semifinals, where Dauda played her new best game of the season in South Carolina’s 93-75 win over Oklahoma. She scored five points, had three rebounds, three steals, two blocks, an assist and played sensational, game-changing defense against Oklahoma star Raegan Beers.

Not box score-breaking numbers by any means. But for a player who struggled to even get on the floor most of the season, it was a huge afternoon.

“Maryam has been putting herself in a position of not only defending, but just playing with calmness,” Staley said. “She's starting to put it all together.”

All the better, almost in storybook fashion, this weekend is the first time all season Dauda’s family has seen her in person. The Bentonville, Ark. native took a leap of faith transferring away from Arkansas, and the lack of a road trip to Fayetteville on the schedule relegated her family to watching from afar.

But her parents and little brother made the trek to Greenville for the postseason, and Dauda rose to the occasion.

“It's amazing,” she said. “I'm just glad they're in the stands finally watching me play and being there for me."

This was the long-awaited breakthrough for a teammate everyone seems to love, a player everyone is pulling for and a talented player who has not seen this season go to plan.

"I feel like I'm stepping out of my shell a little bit better now,” Dauda said. “I'm getting more comfortable and confident as the practices and games go by."

Sure enough, that confidence started in the Arkansas game. Dauda stepped on the court against her former teammates, at a time when South Carolina’s psyche as a whole was at a season-low following the UConn debacle, and turned in a loose, free-flowing performance.

It translated into the next three games, and now into the postseason.

"After the Arkansas game I just feel like it skyrocketed for her in a good direction,” Dauda’s roommate Maddy McDaniel said. “I feel like that was something that she needed, especially for our team.”

Post minutes are always going to be hard to come by on this team. Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards absorb most of the oxygen in the room, and for good reason.

Dauda is not going to be the takeover player who drops 25 points, nor do the Gamecocks need her to be.

But just as a chance of pace for a few minutes, or an option to give one of the big three a rest, as she did picking up Kitts for three minutes late in a physical first quarter? Her presence was valuable, and will continue to be as the stakes rise.

This is what a confident, comfortable Dauda looks like. A role player who can fill in the gaps, make life difficult for an opponent and use her athleticism to challenge bigger post players.

Late in the first half after yet another crisp box out on Beers, the dam finally broke. Beers grabbed her about 75 feet from her own basket, a pure show of frustration as Dauda delivered defensive blows players rarely do against the All-SEC center.

"I saw excellence,” Feagin said of Dauda. “I saw confidence, I saw everything that we've been looking for from Maryam. It was amazing. Everything she just did was so amazing."

Friday, her family saw her in person for the first time as a Gamecock.

Saturday, they saw her play her best game.

Sunday, they might see her help cut down a net.

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