BALTIMORE – Five seconds. That’s all it took for Tessa Johnson.
Wearing a black leg sleeve, Johnson rose and swished a 3-pointer the first time the ball touched her hands against Coppin State, her neatly manicured nails flashing as she followed through. It was the first basket in what became a 90-48 victory for third-ranked South Carolina over Coppin State at the Physical Education Complex last month before 3,371 fans.
By the time Johnson exited midway through the fourth quarter, she had tied her career high with five 3-pointers and scored 17 points. Playing in front of the second-largest crowd in Coppin State women’s basketball history, Johnson’s final triple came seconds after she missed from the corner. The ball found her again in the same spot.
Splash.
The extra half-second she once needed as a freshman and sophomore has disappeared. A defender closes hard, but she’s already in her follow-through. Wrist bent, eyes steady.
She can feel it.
Not just in the muscle, but in the composure.
Once Johnson became more serious about the unseen work, the results began showing up in places the box score doesn’t always capture.
“I really focused a lot on my body because my freshman and sophomore years, I didn’t really care what anyone was saying about like gaining weight, losing weight, gaining muscle, all this stuff,” Johnson said to The IX Basketball. “It was just like, ‘OK, yeah, I hear you. I need to eat more, but I’m still able to play, so whatever.’”
Then something flipped.
“I really tried to focus on that, and I’ve seen and felt a difference on the court,” Johnson said. “I feel like I really was intentional with just off the court stuff. Sometimes I slack, but I’m able to see a difference now.”
Johnson plays with effortless joy. During pregame warmups, she smiled and playfully poked at teammates as shots went up and the crowd settled into its gold seats at Coppin State. Once the ball was tipped, however, the tone shifted. It was all business.
Johnson has been in a season-long groove for the Gamecocks, providing value beyond measure as her shooting, spacing and steadiness have shaped South Carolina’s rhythm. Her pleasant personality matters. Her leadership helps. Her shooting is a game-changer.
She made three 3-pointers in the first quarter against Coppin State and is now up to 70 this season — twice the amount she made as a freshman, and 24 more than last year. The Albertsville, Minnesota native is also shooting efficiently: she’s the SEC leader in 3-point percentage at .458. That also ranks 10th in the NCAA, as of Saturday.
“I was really focused on making my shot quicker and being able to shoot off the dribble a little better,” Johnson said. “I was doing some ball handling, but you can’t really tell anymore, so I need to work on that some more again.”
She has thrived moving into a larger role this season for South Carolina.
She has scored double figures 21 times this season, including a season-high 21 points against LSU last week in a highly anticipated showdown on the road. She’s made at least three 3-pointers in a game, 14 times this season. Johnson also made five triples against Providence and Texas A&M.
With an abundance of offensive options around her — including Joyce Edwards, Raven Johnson, and Ta’Niya Latson — Johnson often benefits from extra space. Defenses can’t just set their strategies to slow her down because the Gamecocks can get points consistently elsewhere if needed.
“Tessa is a knock-down shooter, which makes South Carolina so tough to match up with,” Coppin State head coach Darrell Mosely told The IX Basketball. “You try to eliminate paint touches with their inside presence by packing it in, but she makes you pay every time. Their posts do a great job passing out of the post, and Tessa does a great job moving without the ball.”
Her efficiency reflects intention. According to HerHoopStats, Johnson owns a 61.0% effective field goal percentage, up from 57.5% last season. Her usage rate has climbed from 18.0% to 19.5%, meaning more possessions now end in her hands. In addition, she is 16th in the nation in points per scoring attempt (1.28) and 30th in points per possession (1.13) according to HerHoopsStats.
Synergy data reinforces it: she’s shooting 48.2% on catch-and-shoot looks, 46.8% when guarded, and 50.0% when unguarded. Against zone — rarely deployed against South Carolina because of her spacing — she’s at 38.5%.
For teams trying to defend Johnson, it’s been a pick-your-poison dilemma.
“I would say my confidence is higher and my role is a little different,” Johnson said. “I feel like I’ve wanted to be way more consistent. I feel like I can do that now. My efficiency comes from always being in the gym.”
The growth extends beyond the court.
While Johnson’s brilliance has helped South Carolina win 19 of its last 20 games heading into Sunday’s tilt against the University of Mississippi, it’s her classroom performance that has everybody elated. A two-time member of the All-SEC academic honor roll, Johnson graduated this past December with a psychology degree in just two and a half years.
Johnson has already built a decorated résumé. She helped South Carolina complete a perfect season in 2024 and earned All-Final Four honors after scoring 19 points in the national championship win over Iowa. She has won SEC regular-season and tournament titles in every season with the Gamecocks.
Overall, the Gamecocks embraced the opportunity to step away from the rigors of SEC competition to enjoy a different experience of playing a road game at an HBCU in January, a rarity. While Power Four programs have visited HBCUs in recent years for games, most have occurred before conference play.
Veteran South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is intentional in every detail of her program, so even this visit to Coppin State served a purpose.
“We want to make sure that our kids are getting great experiences,” Staley told The IX Basketball following her postgame press conference. “Obviously, the basketball is important, the academics are important, but the experience that you can provide to come into an environment like this one, I don’t think any of our team has been in an environment like this, where you’re on the campus of an HBCU.
“I don’t even think they really understand the magnitude of what they just experienced. I think sometimes it’s just basketball to them, but I’m sure all of them will bank this in their memories, and I know they’ll share with their siblings, their families, and their future families.”
Meanwhile, Johnson is already building a vault of memories she’ll one day revisit with a quiet smile.
The IX Basketball’s Wilton Jackson contributed reporting to this story.