South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley is celebrating the accomplishments of her players during the college basketball offseason. For the 2025 FIBA Women’s AmeriCup championship game between Team USA and Brazil, a total of three Gamecocks representatives are rostered, with incoming sophomore Joyce Edwards playing for Team USA while former star Kamila Cardoso and an incoming freshman, Ayla McDowell, are for Team Brazil.
This prompted Staley to repost @GamecockWBB on X’s post that highlights the three who are representing their respective countries in international competition on Sunday, July 6. Staley then dropped a three-word caption to celebrate the achievements of both her current and former players.
Have fun ladies!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰 https://t.co/xbFbXRTY0A
— dawnstaley (@dawnstaley) July 6, 2025
Edwards was recently a part of the Gamecocks’ 2024-25 squad, which was her freshman year, and had the program’s 2024 national title spoiled by the UConn Huskies through a 23-point defeat, 82-59, in the 2025 NCAA championship game. Heading into the 2025-26 campaign, Edwards and the Gamecocks will now be bolstered with the arrival of McDowell as they aim to reclaim the national title.
Both players are looking to follow in the footsteps of Cardoso, who was a two-time NCAA champion during her time in 2022 and 2024 and was even named as the MOP for the latter. Cardoso has since been drafted with the third overall pick in the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft by the Chicago Sky and has since become a part of the 2024 All-Rookie Team.
Team USA Women Defeated Brazil To Win The 2025 FIBA AmeriCup Championship
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On the same day, Team USA Women, which features the likes of South Carolina Gamecocks’ Joyce Edwards, went on to defeat Brazil, who has Kamila Cardoso and Ayla McDowell Rostered, by eight points, 92-84, and capture their fifth gold medal in the FIBA AmeriCup. It was Team USA Women’s closest game of the tournament, as they won all their games previously by double digits, and were even down by two at halftime, 47-45.
Edwards, who was the team captain for her squad, dropped 11 points on 3-of-5 overall shooting, seven rebounds, one assist and a steal in 20 minutes played as a starter while Cardoso tallied 19 points of her own on a 5-for-8 clip, five rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in 17 minutes of action. McDowell, on the other hand, was not fielded in for the winner-take-all game.
Team USA Women now officially qualifies for the 2026 FIBA World Cup, while Brazil will have to fight for a spot in upcoming FIBA qualifying tournaments.
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