Everything Dawn Staley said after South Carolina win over Clemson

South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media following the Gamecocks rivalry win over Clemson, 65-37.

Here’s everything she had to say.

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Dawn, obviously we got the word before the game about Maddy McDaniel, Do you think she’ll be back next game?

“Doubt it.”

Will she be back this season?

“That’s on her. That’s on her. We’ll evaluate it every day.”

Held Clemson without a made field goal in the fourth quarter. How did your defense separate itself?

“I mean, we got a good group that was disciplined, right? Sometimes you go an entire game and one group is more linked and connected. And that group was out there, I mean, very predictable, and they were just, they would link them together.”

“And I think what we failed to realize is that Clemson was basically taking the air out of the ball by fluffing it to about eight seconds left on the shot clock. And then they run their short shot clock options, and they did that all game long. Our offense is what forced us to have to play defense for a long time because we took ill-advised shots, quick shots, no reversals, and if you’re going to play that way, you’re going to have to play defense for a very long time, and that’s what happened to us tonight.”

Can you share any details on why Maddy is suspended?

“No.”

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You were outscored 11-10 in the third and then outscored them 20-2 in the fourth. What was the change there?

“The change was just a more disciplined unit out there on the floor that was connected on both sides of the ball. Reversed the ball with that group a lot more, and then we got good looks. So it was just that simple. You know, we locked in defensively and we rebounded the basketball and came back down and didn’t take quick shots and moved the defense, and when you do that against a team like Clemson, you’re going to really get some good looks by a lot of different people. So it wasn’t just one person; it was multiple people. They had to guard five players on the floor.

Dawn, the second and third quarters were the first in-game adversity your team had to face this year. What impressed you, and what would you like from the way they responded?

“I mean, as much as I can get mad at what’s happening out there on the floor, when you really look at it, we’re just a really young basketball team. Inexperienced, and having to play together. So we got to go through some things.”

“I mean, I thought it was a real challenge for us today, and tonight, they challenged us to be more disciplined. And if we didn’t, we lose a basketball game, they get into our lead. So it’s really good stuff that we need to show our team so we can recognize it. Everything is about awareness and recognition for this team. Because once they recognize it and they’re aware of it, we make adjustments, and they can actually execute the adjustments.”

Dawn, I wanted to ask about the next game. I think it was maybe put on the schedule for the TV as a JuJu Watkins vs MiLaysia Fulwiley matchup. Do you think it maybe lost a little bit of the steam going into that?

“Well, I never gave it any thought because I knew neither team had, you know, those marquee players. It’s a good game for us, a challenging game for us. It’s a top ten matchup that, no matter who’s playing or not playing, we’ve got to show up to win.”

“To not just show up, show up and execute. Show up, execute on both sides of the basketball, knock down some threes, get some stops, like.”

How important is it to work against a defense like Clemson to get that extra pass, that extra shot? How does that help your team to get those ball reversals when you off-ball a little better?

“I mean, we had a 10-point quarter. Like, we lost the third quarter. That’s not disciplined enough. It’s more recognition. I told our players after the game, we took a lot of jump shots, like one pass jump shots where, if you’re making them great, but if you’re missing them, you’ve got to adjust.”

“It’s not to say you’re incapable of making them, those are practice shots, but they’re not going in. So let’s adjust. Let’s get into a ball screen action where we got a little bit of movement, we got people going towards the basket, whether you hit them, whether you shoot, we got a rebounder. So it is that kind of recognition. I think when you’re working with young people who practice those shots every day, it’s easy for them to take it. They’re not connecting what happened three plays before that.”

“They’re not even thinking about what happened the last play. They’re not even thinking about defense, that they had to go play 25 seconds of defense when they’re taking that. So, just getting them to recognize that, and not to get them gunshy by any means, but, you know, give us an opportunity to rebound. Give us an opportunity to see that it’s an expected shot versus no ball movement. One pass, one shot, nobody’s anticipating it.”

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