The No. 1 seeded South Carolina Gamecocks are back in the Final Four for a sixth straight season. A big reason for that is how well senior guard Raven Johnson has been playing.
In each of the Gamecocks' last two wins over No. 4 Oklahoma and No. 3 TCU, she has combined for 28 points with another 10 rebounds and nine assists. In fact, Johnson was named the Sacramento 4 Regional's MVP for her efforts there.
Earlier this week, Johnson was interviewed by the NCAA.com's Autumn Johnson. At one point during the interview, Autumn asked her what her mindset has been during South Carolina's NCAA Tournament run. Her answer was simple—just win:
"I’m in a zone of just winning," Johnson said. "In my head. I'm just thinking whatever it takes to win. If that’s me defending the best player, if that's me scoring, if that's me trying to uplift my teammates. If that’s me having to sit on the bench if it’s not my day and somebody else on my team, it’s their day, I would do that. It doesn’t matter to me, but I’m in a headspace of winning. Whatever it takes to do I’m gonna do that.”
Johnson was also asked about players other than herself that are stepping up, including Ta'Niya Latson, Madina Okot, Tessa Johnson and even senior forward Maryam Dauda. Johnson attributed the team's success to keeping their team chemistry strong and leaning on each other:
"I think we're keeping our circle tight, and that started in the summer," Johnson said. "Our coaching staff said 'no matter what happens the highs are the highs and the lows are the lows. Keep the circle tight and lean on each other.' And I think we're doing a really phenomenal job of that. And when people's numbers are called they're doing good. Maryam [Dauda] doesn't get talked about but she does the intangibles for this team. Like today I saw her dive on the bench for a loose ball and save it. And I'm like these are the things that win your championship game, like those players don’t get talked about enough but shout out to her."
You can see Johnson asked about her tournament mindset right around the 1:46 mark of this video:
“I’m in the headspace of just winning.” - @HollywoodRaven on advancing to her 5th straight Final Four.#MarchMadness x @GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/BbgHg1K3DO
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessWBB) March 31, 2026
South Carolina will take on the No. 1 overall seeded UConn Huskies in the Final Four. It'll mark the first meeting this season between the two, and the Huskies are favored by 6.5 points. The Gamecocks' Final Four game will tip off at 7 p.m. ET on Friday evening.