Cardoso, Paopao Named AP All-Americans
COLUMBIA, S.C. – ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ women’s basketball seniors Kamilla Cardoso and Te-Hina Paopao earned All-America honors from the Associated Press today. Cardoso was a second-team selection, while Paopao was an honorable mention. It is the second time in as many days that the duo has earned the All-America title.
·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ head coach Dawn Staley picked up another National Coach of Year recognition today as well as The Sporting News joined several other media organizations in bestowing that title on her.
Cardoso drew All-America first-team honors from the USBWA and a spot on the second team from The Sporting News. She is the Gamecocks’ scorer (14.0 ppg) and rebounder (9.5 rpg), earning a spot on the All-SEC First Team and SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors. Impacting the game on both ends of the floor, she leads the SEC and is 23rd in the nation in player offensive rating (126.3) while ranking second in the SEC and eighth in the nation in player defensive rating (71.8). In more traditional stats, Cardoso is 11h in the country in blocks per game (2.64), 19th in field goal percentage (.584), 33rd in double-doubles (13) and 44th in rebounds per game. She has led the Gamecocks in scoring in a team-high 12 games and in rebounding in 16 times. Cardoso was the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and an All-SEC First-Team selection. She is on the current watch lists for all major national player of the year awards and is a finalist for the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year Award.
Paopao drew All-SEC Second-Team recognition this season after leading the SEC in 3-point field goal percentage and her 47.1 percent long-range accuracy ranking third in the nation. Her 73 made 3s this season are already 10th in the Gamecocks’ single-season record book, and her current season 3-point shooting percentage would be the second-best in program history. Paopao is ninth in the SEC with 3.7 assists per game, and her 2.4 assist-to-turnover ratio ranks fourth in the league and 27th in the nation. In SEC play, her 2.7 assist-to-turnover ratio this season is the fourth best in program history. With her 11.1 points per game and teammates scoring 8.7 points per game off her assists, Paopao has her hands on 23.0 percent of the Gamecocks’ total offense. She is second in the SEC in payer offensive rating at 125.0, which ranks 32nd in the nation In seven games against ranked opponents, Paopao is the team’s top scorer at 14.6 points per game and she is second on the team with 4.7 assists per game.
Staley has led her team to its third-straight NCAA Tournament overall No. 1 seed with the Gamecocks entering the NCAA Tournament undefeated for the second-consecutive season. After losing seven players to graduation, including all five starters from the 2023 NCAA Final Four team, Staley entered the season with just one player who had ever started a game as a Gamecock. Still the talent level that returned and was added via the transfer portal – Te-Hina Paopao – and the signing class had the team slotted at No. 6/4 in the preseason national polls. ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ dominated its historic season-opening top-10 matchup in Paris and shot to the top of both polls, where it has remained for the entire season. The Gamecocks swept the SEC Regular-Season and Tournament championships for the second time in as many seasons and the sixth time in the last 10 years. Named National Coach of the Year by The Athletic and ESPN, Staley drew SEC Coach of the Year honors from her colleagues for the seventh time this season, leaving her just one behind legendary Pat Summitt for the most selections in league history.
No. 1/1 ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ will start NCAA Tournament play on Fri., Mar. 22, with a 2 p.m. tipoff at Colonial Life Arena against either Sacred Heart or Presbyterian.
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ women’s basketball.
2023-24 Associated Press All-America Teams
First Team
Cameron Brink, Stanford
Paige Bueckers, UConn
Caitlin Clark, Iowa
Hannah Hidalgo, Notre Dame
JuJu Watkins, Southern Cal
Second Team
Madison Booker, Texas
Kamilla Cardoso, ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ
Liz Kitley, Virginia Tech
Angel Reese, LSU
Jacy Sheldon, Ohio State
Third Team
Raegan Beers, Oregon State
Georgia Amoore, Virginia Tech
Dyaisha Fair, Syracuse
Mackenzie Holmes, Indiana
Alissa Pili, Utah
Honorable Mention
Lauren Betts, UCLA
Audi Crooks, Iowa State
Aaliyah Edwards, UConn
Yvonne Ejim, Gonzaga
Lauren Gustin, BYU
McKenna Hofschild, Colorado State
Abbey Hsu, Columbia
Kiki Iriafen, Stanford
Rickea Jackson, Tennessee
Ta’Niya Latson, Florida State
Ayoka Lee, Kansas State
Cotie McMahon, Ohio State
Aneesah Morrow, LSU
Nika Muhl, UConn
Lucy Olsen, Villanova
Charisma Osborne, UCLA
Te-Hina Paopao, ·¬ÇÑÊÓƵ
JJ Quineryly, West Virginia
Saniya Rivers, NC State
Kiki Rice, UCLA
Jaylyn Sherrod, Colorado
Skylar Vann, Oklahoma
