Everything Dawn Staley said after South Carolina's win over Bowling Green

South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media following the team’s 114-47 win over Bowling Green on Friday. Here’s everything she had to say.

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Agot Makeer went down with an injury. Do you have any update on her?

“No. I mean, she’s not crying, so that’s a good thing.”

Could Maddy (McDaniel) have played if it came down to it?

“We wouldn’t have played her, no. But (we’re) loading her up, trying to see how it responds after just doing probably a little bit more than she’s done in a couple days.”

What did you see from Ayla (McDowell) when you had to give her some extra minutes?

“Ayla’s predictable, and there is nothing more that a coach wants from a freshman than to be predictable. She is in the right places. She can shoot the ball. Defensively, she’s not gonna look like a Raven (Johnson). But her impact on the ball, off the ball, she stays and plays. And she does what we ask of all of our guards. If you just look at her, she plays it pitch perfect.”

Joyce (Edwards) and Ayla McDowell said the focus the last few days has been on defense. Did you like what you saw from the team defensively tonight?

“For sure. We put a special emphasis on just cutting down the amount of miscommunication plays out there — and the lapses. There were some, but not very many. But you see them just formulating chemistry. We have to be exact right now. And then, once they get to know each other, there might be a little bit of wiggle room with how they play and entrusting each other to be where they’re supposed to be. But really encouraging from just bringing our practice habits to the games.”

You made a challenge in Monday’s game against Grand Canyon. What did you think of the challenge system? Are you looking forward to it this season?

“I was on the officiating committee probably 10 years ago. I asked for that. Like, football was doing it; I was like, ‘We should do this.’ And again, a lot of people looked at me like I got 10 heads at times. And I like football, so we could have been doing this for 10 years. So yes, I do like it. I still have to educate myself on when we can do it — because it’s not every play.”

What do you see from the offense so far — and especially the potential that they have offensively?

“I see players who can really score individually, right? And I see a team in which it tries to make the right plays. They do make the obvious (plays). We’re trying to get them to make the un-obvious — you know, instead of dumping it off to a post player, to hit the skip. The one-more skip is a back-breaking play. Whether you’re up 50 or down 10, it gives you a little bit of momentum. It ensures that you’re aware of what’s happening on the floor and where people are on the floor. And if we can do it…

“I think Joyce made an incredible pass. She got the ball, like, in mid-post, and she just zinged it right over to Tessa (Johnson). Those plays are back-breaking plays that we have to add to our offense. And once we start doing those type of things, we’re making huge strides. But without doing them, we’re putting points on the scoreboard. So, we just have to make our players aware of them. And once we make them aware, they actually do a really good job in trying to execute that.”

In the first quarter, you had four straight steals, three layups, getting passes in mid-court. How much was that a product of what you focused on, and how much was it just getting in lanes, disrupting those passes?

“I mean, we have to work it each and every practice. Much like we prepare ourselves for getting ready for an opponent, we also have to prepare ourselves for us, getting ready for us and the types of things that we need to do — not necessarily for that particular opponent, but just overall, in general, and how we need to play. And I’m just really proud of them. I’m really proud of how much work they put in over the past two days and to see the fruits of their labor today.”

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