Led by Dawn Staley, the South Carolina Gamecocks appear ready to do something special again.
Last Friday, the Gamecocks beat the undefeated LSU Tigers in a game that was moved from Thursday night at 8pm to Friday afternoon at 5pm due to inclement weather. The exciting matchup was ESPN’s 2nd most-watched NCAA women’s basketball game this season.
The 66-56 win was a game that Staley acknowledged the importance of.
“Offensively that wasn’t us, but defensively we gave a pretty performance,” said Staley. “We were locked in, we continued to fight, and we made sure to pick up those loose balls. We were still in the mix when we didn’t come up with some of the rebounds.”
South Carolina received amazing performances from key players like Sania Feagin and Joyce Edwards. Feagin had 12 points, 7 rebounds and 3 blocks while Edwards recorded 14 points and 4 rebounds. Raven Johnson also showed up and matched her season high with 5 steals.
Staley’s team was a defensive nightmare for LSU, holding the Tigers to 29.9% shooting from the field and keeping them well below their scoring average of 90. 22 of the 66 points for the Gamecocks came from turnovers.
South Carolina is loaded with many amazing players, and if they continue this dominance for the rest of the season and into the tournament, then they have a great chance to win back-to-back national titles.
Last year, the Gamecocks were undefeated NCAA champions (38-0). Led by their star player Kamilla Cardoso, the Gamecocks became the first team to go undefeated and win a national title since the 2016 UConn Huskies. Â
Staley has won 3 NCAA titles at South Carolina, and this year she has the chance to make South Carolina the first team to win consecutive titles since Geno Auriemma’s 2016 UConn team.
The Gamecocks, currently 19-1 and undefeated in conference games at 7-0, have a great chance to win it all again this season. They’re undefeated at home (10-0) and are currently on a 14-game winning streak.
“I think we’ve got to a place where we’ve trimmed the fat off of losing,” said Staley after the team’s loss to UCLA. “Honestly, losing to UCLA helped us. It forced us to refocus and reminded us how we need to play to be successful in this league…”
South Carolina is ranked no.2 in ESPN’s top 25 rankings. They trail UCLA, the only undefeated team remaining in the nation.
Their roster is one of the best in the nation, which gives the team a great chance of repeating, a chance that was strengthened with their 17th straight win over LSU.
That’s why Staley got paid and why she’s one of the greatest to ever do it.
