South Carolina women’s basketball: Maryam Dauda discovers her happiness

In a live update, Maryam Dauda is radiating with happiness. She’s thrilled to be in Columbia, ecstatic to be a student at South Carolina, proud to be a Gamecock, and, most importantly, overjoyed to be playing in her first NCAA Tournament. Simply put, she’s just happy.

Dauda spent three years at Arkansas, her home-state school, where her journey was filled with challenges and growth. After missing her first season due to injury, she became a starter by her redshirt sophomore year. She played 30 minutes per game and led the SEC in blocks during conference play. Despite these achievements, something didn’t quite feel right. While she has no ill feelings toward her time at Arkansas, it’s clear Dauda is in a better place now.

“I’m a lot more happier,” Dauda shared. “I feel like I’m on a team where everybody just wants to win. You don’t have a person that’s like, oh, I wanna win or whatever. Collectively everybody’s wanting to win and just get to the next game.”

For many players, the transition from starting every game and averaging nearly 30 minutes to only playing 6 minutes, often in garbage time, could be difficult. But not for Dauda. For her, it’s not about the minutes on the court—it’s about the support and unity she feels from her teammates and coaches.

“It’s been everything I hoped it would be and more,” Dauda said. “I’m just taking one game at a time and just being in the present and just taking everything in and learning as I’m going. I’m learning from my teammates and learning from my coaches and just taking everything in.”

In her first season at Arkansas, the team made the NCAA Tournament, but lost in the first round to Utah. That experience, however, doesn’t compare to the feeling Dauda had when she checked into her first tournament game with South Carolina this past Friday.

“Excited, more relieved, I should say,” Dauda expressed after the game. “I just feel free, just going out there and playing, but I feel excited. I’m just moving on to the next round.”

In the fourth quarter against Tennessee Tech, every Gamecock except Dauda had scored. Coach Dawn Staley put Dauda in the game, and everyone knew she needed a basket. While Dauda didn’t force anything, her teammates made sure the moment came to her.

“I think it happened because we were kind of talking about it on the bench,” Dauda explained. “I was like, let it just flow and I don’t want anybody to force it. Then (MiLaysia Fulwiley) just kind of saw the opportunity to pass me the ball and it just happened.”

Dauda, set to graduate with a degree in economics this spring, is eligible for the WNBA Draft, but she’s content where she is right now. “I’m definitely coming back for sure,” Dauda confirmed. “I’m coming back for sure.”

She also has big plans for the future—hoping to start her own international fashion line. A master’s degree in economics will help her reach that goal.

“Yes, that’s the goal,” she said. “That’s still the goal. But wherever that takes me, it takes me.”

For now, her focus is on the Sweet 16 in Birmingham, where the Gamecocks are headed next.