Everything Dawn Staley said after South Carolina’s win over Kentucky

On Sunday, No. 3 South Carolina beat No. 16 Kentucky, 60-56. Here is everything South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after concluding the regular season with a victory.

From an execution standpoint, what allowed Kentucky to get back into the game?

“Missing shots. We got into a scramble situation after those missed shots in transition. Then, (Clara) Strack did a great job. They really got her the ball in her spots and she delivered.”

What did you see that Kentucky gave you trouble in on the defensive end?

“I don’t think it was any different than what we’ve seen. A little bit of zone they mixed in, we didn’t hit shots. We got some great looks. Tessa (Johnson) doesn’t shoot the way she always shot. I know she had some pretty open looks. I thought she took some that was quick, but we can take that from Tessa. We bit the bullet and took some quick shots at the end.”

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What makes Strack so hard to defend?

“She’s big, she’s long. She’s got a high-arching shot that’s hard to get to. She’s very mobile. She can put it on the floor, can score on all three levels, and keeps the defense off balance. Once she got her shot going, it allowed her to put the ball on the floor and get to the basket and score.”

What is it about Kenny Brook’s system that makes this such a competitive matchup?

“Great crowd, great momentum. I thought we got out to some leads, and they came fighting back. There’s great talent on the floor that makes plays. We are fortunate to get the win, but we also did enough to win. We also executed, and we were able to get some stops when we needed stops. It was a hard-fought game. This was an SEC conference game.”

What did this fourth quarter tell you about your team’s resilience heading into March?

“We can play a lot of different ways. However, I think this league has allowed us to win in a lot of different ways. You do have to coach them up. And we do have to have players that can make plays. I think just defensively, we only scored 60 points. So allowing just 56, that’s really saying something as well. So you know, if you win 80 points or 60 points, I think it’s just a confidence builder to have success in our league.”

How do you feel like Madina (Okot) was able to hold her own and make an impact on the game?

“Big Mama did her thing. Big Mama scored 21 points and got 13 rebounds. I told her she’s got the stamina to play four or five more minutes. She might be able to add to her stamina, but she’s playing extremely well and composed. I thought she did a great job for us. Anchoring on both sides of the basketball.”

Were the lulls completely from missing shots, or did the focus wander a bit, considering it’s the last game of the season?

“I thought both teams got a little bit tired. I think when you exert as much energy as both of us did on both sides trying to get a win, it takes gutting up. Sometimes the gutting up makes your shot a little short, and sometimes it makes you step a little bit slow. I thought at times, when the game was flowing, it went for us and against us. It played a part. I think we built our lead because they got a little bit fatigued. They came back off of a little bit of our fatigue, and it was just that kind of battle.”

Is it a blessing or a curse to face a great crowd on the road every time?

“That’s a blessing, it’s all a blessing. As many people come to support women’s basketball. In this one, whether they were for us or against us, it’s always a great thing. I know ten years ago it wasn’t like that. Now we’re seeing more and more people having sell-outs, and rightfully so. The game is really in high demand. And as you can see, the people came in, and the people were loud. And the people almost pushed them over to the finish line, and that’s what you want.”

What was the plan going inside-out on defense?

“We just want to go inside. Anytime that we got in a scramble mode situation, they made us pack it in. We can afford ourselves those three if in half-court we’re not allowing them to get clean looks. Weally wanted Strack to be the one who playmakes. Her efficiency is inside the three. You could two us rather than three us. We just tried to do that. And if they’re able to play both inside and outside the three, you probably are going to win this basketball game. I think they average about eight, so we cut it down to five. That creates just a small advantage for us to win.”

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In your eyes should they (Kentucky) host (in the NCAA Tournament)?

“I know there is a (Top 16) reveal before the game. I see there are a lot of other conferences that are in there. It’s nothing against any other conference, but what we have been through in this conference, it’s hard to measure where we stack up in that top 16. I do think we could have a little bit more. I think Kentucky has done a great job with its resume. If you take some of what has happened in our league and what our league is doing, it’s hard to measure. I hope they take a different metric to gauge us because it’s tough. This is hard. It is really hard. And I know, the committee members do a great job. But I think this is our president. No other year has been like this year in the SEC. So we can’t use the same metric that we used for the top 16.”

How big was limiting Tonie Morgan from distributing the ball?

“She’s the head of the snake. We really want to make it hard for her. She missed some easy should-bes at the basket that she really does not miss. We are very fortunate that that happened. If she makes those baskets, we’re probably talking a little bit differently. It is important that we disrupt the flow of what they were trying to do, and we know that she probably won’t play that way again.”

Any update on Tiffany Mitchell, Mikiah Harrigan, Destiny Littleton?

“No updates. Still, everything’s the same, but we are getting some help from some people who are in decision-making positions, but there’s nothing you can do. You can still hear the things that are going on, the sirens and everything that goes on in a warzone.”

Staley and South Carolina tip off their postseason on Friday in Greenville. The Gamecocks will match up against another SEC opponent in the quarterfinal of the conference tournament.

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