Dawn Staley Offers Update on Ta’Niya Latson After Ankle Injury
The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team is already battling several tough injuries to key players at this point in their 2025-26 season.
In fact, the two biggest injuries Dawn Staley's squad has had to deal with occurred before the season began. Standout forward Ashlyn Watkins went down with a concerning knee injury several minutes into her team's January 5 game against the Mississippi State Bulldogs, and it came out shortly after that she had suffered a torn ACL.
Watkins then announced in July that she'd be missing this entire season to ensure she's fully healthy and at 100% for the Gamecocks' 2026-27 campaign. And Watkins isn't the only key forward who tore an ACL, as Chloe Kitts announced that she suffered the same injury back in October, which meant that she'd be missing the rest of this season.
Due to this (and the fact that the Gamecocks lost several players to the WNBA, along with star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley transferring to LSU), the Gamecocks were already short-handed heading into this year. This is why what happened to senior guard Ta'Niya Latson (who led the NCAA in scoring with the Florida State Seminoles) during the Gamecocks' December 28 game against Providence has caused a lot of concern.
Dawn Staley Addresses Ta'Niya Latson Injury
Latson was driving to the basket in the second quarter when she lost her balance and fell, and immediately began holding her left foot and wincing in pain.
Latson was assisted off the court a few moments later, and the broadcast mentioned that she had suffered an ankle injury. She didn't return to the game, which sparked worries that she might be dealing with something serious. However, Staley didn't convey too much concern when she was asked about Latson when addressing the media after the game.
“She’s smiling. She got treatment all [the] second half and just walked out. I think we’ll look at her tomorrow," Staley said of Latson, per a December 28 article from Chris Wellbaum of On3.
The fact that Latson was in good spirits and was already walking suggests that her ankle ailment isn't overly serious. While there won't be a more concrete update until Monday, Gamecocks fans can probably breathe easy about arguably their most important player.
Me after finding out Ta’Niya Latson will be alright and will just probably miss a few games 😩😭🙏🏾 pic.twitter.com/o8jeJRumjI
— TruthHurtsSC4life (@HurtsSc4life) December 28, 2025
South Carolina has a relatively easy schedule over the next couple of weeks, so they might be cautious in bringing her back to action. But Staley will hope Latson is back when they play the Texas Longhorns on January 15.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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