.jpg)
1 hour ago
2
For a while, it looked like one of those nights.
Shots rattled out. The South Carolina Gamecocks leaned on her. The pace of the game kept asking Aaliyah Chavez to slow down, to wait, to be patient. She did all of that without ever drifting away from the game.
Then overtime arrived. That was when Chavez stopped reacting and started running things.
MORE: Caitlin Clark reacts to Indiana Hoosiers receiver naming his dog after her
She did not force shots. She simply took ownership of the game, moving the ball where it needed to go, stepping into space when it opened, and making the right play over and over again. The Oklahoma Sooners’ did not just win it in overtime, they trusted their star freshman to guide them through.
By the end of the night, the stat line told part of the story. Chavez finished with 26 points, eight assists, five made threes, and 39 minutes in a 94-82 overtime win over No. 2 South Carolina. The rest showed up in the body language. Teammates followed. The game settled.
Her confidence never left her, even when the shots did.
MORE: Meet Ly Bui: The 17-year-old already changing the energy at Florida
“They kept telling me to keep shooting,” Chavez said afterward. “Knowing they trust me on taking the shots that I was taking, it just brought my confidence up.”
That trust runs both ways.
Head coach Jennie Baranczyk said Chavez never tried to do too much when the moment got heavy.
“In overtime, she was just like, ‘Okay, let’s go,’” Baranczyk said. “She didn’t try to do anything extra. She just played.”
Across the floor, the sport’s standard was watching and noticed.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley did not hesitate afterward.
“Yeah, she was great,” Staley said. “She ran her team, hit big shots, delivered the ball, everything you want a point guard to do. She’s having a great freshman year.”
Is Aaliyah Chavez already the best player in women’s basketball?
MORE: Former LSU star Livvy Dunne reveals her ambitions for the big screen
It is still January. She is still a freshman. But when a game ends with everyone in the building quietly agreeing on who was in charge, the question does not feel rushed.
It feels earned. And nights like this have a way of sticking.
English (US)