South-Carolina

Lawmakers vote to revamp judicial selection in South Carolina

Published

2 years ago

June 27, 2024

Lawmakers vote to revamp judicial selection in South Carolina

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) – South Carolina is one of just two states where lawmakers elect judges – and some critics have said that could give lawyers who are also lawmakers an unfair advantage in the courtroom.

Now a bill to revamp that process will soon be on the governor’s desk.

But it’s by no means the overhaul some wanted to see.

The bill was approved in the final minutes of what could likely be the General Assembly’s last day in session until after the November election.

It follows months of disagreements about how much reform is needed – if any at all.

“Some have argued that it isn’t broken, and some have argued that it needs to be thrown out,” said Sen. Luke Rankin, R-Horry, Senate Judiciary Committee chair.

The bill would expand the membership of the committee that screens judicial candidates. It now has 10 members, and two more would be added.

Four of them would be appointed by the governor, who currently has no role in the judicial selection process.

It would impose term limits on members for the first time, while still allowing lawyers who are also legislators to serve on the committee – a ban some critics wanted to see.

The proposal would prohibit most current members of the judicial screening panel from serving on the revamped version.

“We want to have fresh ideas and different people in there, vetting these judicial candidates,” said Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey, R-Edgefield.

Under the current system, the screening panel can advance the name of up to three finalists for each seat to the full legislature for its consideration.

This bill would raise that cap to six finalists – while giving lawmakers more time to review them before they hold elections and before candidates can try to earn their votes.

To reach this compromise, some ideas were dropped – including a House of Representatives proposal to screen magistrate candidates – a selection that senators entirely control.

“Our Senate colleagues were not interested in magistrate reform. … We did not want to miss the opportunity to have meaningful reform in the way we elect and select judges in the state over that issue,” said Rep. Weston Newton, R-Beaufort, House Judiciary Committee chairman.

Massey said: “I think that is something that is likely going to be talked about into the future, especially if we continue to have problems in that area, there’s going to be more conversation.”

Gov. Henry McMaster has previously said he wants to sign a judicial reform bill into law, but that it would depend on the details.

His spokesman says the governor will review and make a decision on this bill when it reaches his desk.

Some advocacy groups that have also been calling for judicial reform in South Carolina laud the passage of this bill – and say it’s a good start, but shouldn’t be the end of this work.

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South-Carolina

South Carolina vs TCU predictions for Elite Eight game in March Madness

Published

6 hours ago

March 29, 2026

Press Room

South Carolina vs TCU predictions for Elite Eight game in March Madness

SACRAMENTO, CA — No. 3 TCU took down No. 10 Virginia in the Sweet 16, preventing South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley from coaching against her college team in the Elite Eight of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.

The No. 1 seeded Gamecocks (34-3) will play the No. 3 seeded Horned Frogs (32-5) on March 30 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Golden 1 Center.

South Carolina beat No. 4 seed Oklahoma 94-68 in the Sweet 16 before TCU beat Virginia 79-69.

The only time these two teams met was in 2024 when South Carolina won 85-52.

Dawn Staley has only coached against TCU once

This will be somewhat of an unfamiliar matchup for Staley, who has only coached one game against TCU, and the 2024-25 roster was much different than what she’ll see on March 30.

Last year’s TCU team was powered by players like Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince. Now it’s Olivia Miles who is running the show.

Only one starter from last year’s team returned, and TCU added six transfer players.

Coach Mark Campbell is in his third season but has been to two of the last three NCAA Tournaments. Last year the Horned Frogs lost to Texas in the Elite Eight.

Olivia Miles is TCU’s star point guard

Olivia Miles transferred to TCU from Notre Dame in a shocking offseason move after Miles was projected as a top-5 WNBA draft pick.

The senior guard is averaging 19.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists, coming off 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the Sweet 16.

She’s fifth in the nation in assists, 42nd in double-doubles with 12 total, and leads the nation in triple doubles with six.

Miles wasn’t healthy and didn’t play for Notre Dame against South Carolina in the 2023-24 season opener, so this is Staley’s first time scouting against one of the nation’s top ball handlers.

Marta Suarez, Clara Silva vs Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot

After fighting through Oklahoma’s post defense, South Carolina’s post players have a new challenge in TCU’s Marta Suarez. The 6-foot-3 Suarez is averaging 16.8 points and 7.4 rebounds, coming off 33 points and 10 rebounds in Sweet 16.

She’s tied with Miles with 12 double-doubles.

Clara Silva, 6-foot-7 center, is in her first season with TCU after one with Kentucky last year. Silva won’t be impacted by the SEC’s physicality given her freshman year experience and is averaging 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds for TCU.

She didn’t score against South Carolina last year at Kentucky but had two assists and a steal in seven minutes of action.

TCU leads Big 12 in points allowed, rebounds and point differential

The Horned Frogs have the top defense in the Big 12, allowing an average of 55.9 points per game. They are also first in rebounds with 41.7 per game and in point differential at +21.4.

South Carolina vs TCU prediction in Elite Eight

South Carolina 84, TCU 72: This could be the closest game for South Carolina this tournament and will come down to execution. But despite almost three 100-point games, the Gamecocks say they still have room to grow with their best basketball left to play.

Raven Johnson vs Olivia Miles will be the main guard matchup, with Clara Silva vs Madina Okot at the center spot and Marta Suarez vs Joyce Edwards. So expect players like Tessa Johnson or Ta’Niya Latson to try to step up for Staley.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

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Oklahoma vs. South Carolina box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game

Published

19 hours ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Oklahoma vs. South Carolina box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

The 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament continues with Sweet 16 action Saturday as No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Oklahoma battle for a spot in the Elite Eight.

Another year, another Sweet 16 appearance for Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, who are a serious championship contender. They’ll face the Sooners in a SEC conference matchup. The game between both squads resulted in one of South Carolina’s three losses this season.

Oklahoma won the overtime thriller 94-82 in Norman on January 23.

Here is a look at the box score from Saturday’s Sweet 16 Regional 4 in Sacramento.

Oklahoma vs. South Carolina March Madness box score

Oklahoma stats

NO	Name	POS Advertisement	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB Advertisement	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO Advertisement	PF	PTS
6	Sahara Williams	F Advertisement	24	2-8	0-0	1-1	2 Advertisement	5	2	2	1	0 Advertisement	1	5
4	Caya Smith	F Advertisement	7	0-0	0-0	0-0	0 Advertisement	3	0	0	0	0 Advertisement	0	0
3	Zya Vann	G Advertisement	22	2-7	1-3	1-2	1 Advertisement	2	0	0	0	2 Advertisement	1	6
2	Aaliyah Chavez	G Advertisement	30	7-18	3-9	2-2	0 Advertisement	0	3	0	0	2 Advertisement	2	19
21	Brooklyn Stewart	F Advertisement	15	0-2	0-0	0-0	2 Advertisement	5	1	0	4	4 Advertisement	1	0
12	Payton Verhulst	G Advertisement	29	4-11	2-4	0-0	2 Advertisement	3	1	1	2	1 Advertisement	1	10
22	Keziah Lofton	G Advertisement	10	2-3	0-0	0-0	0 Advertisement	2	0	1	0	1 Advertisement	0	4
15	Raegan Beers	C Advertisement	27	4-8	0-1	2-6	2 Advertisement	6	2	1	2	2 Advertisement	1	10
Total				21-57	6-17 Advertisement	6-11	13	31	9	5 Advertisement	9	12	7	54
				36.8% Advertisement	35.3%	54.5%

South Carolina stats

NO	Name	POS Advertisement	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB Advertisement	REB	AST	ST	BLK	TO Advertisement	PF	PTS
8	Joyce Edwards	F Advertisement	28	3-10	0-0	2-2	2 Advertisement	8	3	2	0	1 Advertisement	2	8
1	Maddy McDaniel	G Advertisement	13	0-3	0-1	0-0	0 Advertisement	1	0	1	0	0 Advertisement	2	0
30	Maryam Dauda	F Advertisement	3	0-0	0-0	0-0	0 Advertisement	0	0	1	0	0 Advertisement	0	0
31	Alicia Tournebize	F Advertisement	8	1-4	0-1	0-0	0 Advertisement	3	1	0	3	0 Advertisement	3	2
5	Tessa Johnson	G Advertisement	21	6-8	2-2	0-0	1 Advertisement	4	2	0	1	1 Advertisement	0	14
	Ta’Niya Latson	G	26 Advertisement	6-10	3-3	6-6	0	1 Advertisement	5	0	0	4	1 Advertisement	21
11	Madina Okot	C	19 Advertisement	3-6	1-1	0-0	5	11 Advertisement	2	1	1	2	3 Advertisement	7
44	Agot Makeer	G	21 Advertisement	3-8	1-2	1-1	1	2 Advertisement	2	1	0	0	1 Advertisement	8
25	Raven Johnson	G	25 Advertisement	8-11	2-3	0-0	1	2 Advertisement	3	1	0	0	0 Advertisement	18
Total				30-60	9-13	9-9 Advertisement	12	35	18	7	5 Advertisement	8	12	78
				50.0%	69.2% Advertisement	100.0%

As for the NCAA tournament, South Carolina has dominated so far, winning by 69 points against Southern before blowing out the USC Trojans by 40 in the Round of 32.

Oklahoma has made a nice run in this year’s tournament as a No. 4 seed, beating Idaho by 30 before knocking off No. 5 Michigan State by six in the second round.

These two teams will give each other fits. The real question could be which team will final possession and will they capilitize?

What channel is Oklahoma vs. South Carolina on today?

Oklahoma vs. South Carolina How to Watch
Date: Saturday, March 28
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Golden 1 Center- Saramento, California
TV: ESPN (Available on FuboTV)

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South-Carolina

Where to watch South Carolina vs. Oklahoma in March Madness Sweet 16: Time, TV Channel

Published

1 day ago

March 28, 2026

Press Room

Where to watch South Carolina vs. Oklahoma in March Madness Sweet 16: Time, TV Channel

March Madness is underway and college basketball’s big dance continues with No. 1 seed South Carolina taking on No. 4 seed Oklahoma in a Sweet 16 matchup on Saturday, March 28. Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the clash between the Sooners and Gamecocks.

USA TODAY Sports has a team of journalists covering women’s March Madness to keep you up to date with every point scored, rebound grabbed and game won in the 68-team tournament.

USA TODAY Studio IX: Check out our women’s sports hub for in-depth analysis, commentary and more