On the cusp of another national title, a South Carolina star gets validation from a WNBA legend

Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images

Raven Johnson’s stats don’t jump off the page, but her impact for South Carolina hasn’t gone unnoticed by Diana Taurasi.

TAMPA, Fla. — Raven Johnson’s eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped.

“She said that? Is that real?”

She called her teammate Sania Feagin over and pointed to the tweet shown on a reporter’s phone: “Look at this!”

While Johnson was playing a team-high 27 minutes to lead her South Carolina Gamecocks to a Final Four victory over Texas...