Everything Dawn Staley said in South Carolina's win over Missouri

South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke with the media following the No. 3 Gamecocks’ 112-71 victory over Missouri at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday night.

Here’s everything she had to say.

Dawn, just looking at this game, y’all just came out and took care of business. Was that just a matchup, or did you have to say anything to the kids about, ‘Let’s get this over with?'”

“I mean, no, I think they knew what was at stake. We’ve been mentioning of just wanting to get outright (SEC regular season champions) and doing it on our home court, in front of the fans that really have supported us, to the end degree. And what better way to share it with them.”

To have 21 assists on 52% shooting, talk about how your team was able to just share the basketball throughout the game and to get the shots that you wanted to get the victory that you have tonight?

“We actually made a move in that area because we were…I think we had seven assists on 21 field goals at halftime, and we just talked about sharing the basketball. And when we were able to do that and find who should shoot the ball in rhythm, we’re a much better basketball team that’s a lot more fluid offensively. I thought we did a really good job with that.”

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What do you see from the team’s focus to just stay the course, and not once they get up, let up?

“We gave up 31 points in the third quarter, that’s not a norm. I think seven of those were threes. I think, I mean, this league is good, every team is really good. Every team has momentum; they take momentum during the game. I think our team does a really good job at creating momentum for us, especially when people are creating momentum for themselves. I just thought the three-point shooting for them got a little bit out of hand, and then we just started closing out a little bit. And I think, just over the course of 40 minutes, our depth, even though we didn’t have Tessa (Johnson) was really just a lot, you know. Even if we’re not scoring, defensively we can apply pressure and maybe shoot a little bit quicker than you want to shoot, or our rotations were pretty good, so we started prioritizing the shots and did a much better job in the fourth quarter controlling that.”

It was senior night tonight, you know, obviously a lot would be made of the impact that Madina (Okot) and Raven (Johnson) and Ta’Niya (Latson) have had during their time here, and rightfully so, what has Maryam (Dauda) meant for this program in the last few years that she’s been here?

“I mean, I have to credit Maryam with just being a high-character individual. Super competitive and just being probably the greatest teammate through not playing, through being a senior, and, I mean, she’s never packed it in. She’s always come to play. We’ve had her play on the Highlighters, just because when she wasn’t getting a whole lot of reps, we wanted her to get reps. And we wanted her to feel it. She never took that as a demotion. I think she made it, you know, she made it something of a positive thing that every time Joyce (Edwards) subs out, she wants to go to the Highlighters. Like, every time. She’s just a great teammate, a great friend, a great, just special being, like recruiting impact. Probably every recruit that over the last two years that we’ve had come into our program, Maryam has impacted. So it’s not just who she is, it’s her contributions to our program. And I know she probably wants to contribute a lot more from a basketball standpoint, you know, but what she’s done off the court: unmatched. I’ve said this before, like I would hire her, like, quicker than I would hire someone that probably plays 30 minutes a game.”

The goal is to play until April 5th, obviously, but the WNBA draft is so soon after. A lot happens at the end of the season. I’m curious, do you allow senior night, even though there are goals left to be filled afterwards, like, for some brief reflection on what these seniors are, and how do you kind of process the emotions of honoring these seniors, but also knowing there’s a heck of a lot left to play?

“I mean, it’s par for the course. Like, we want to enjoy this moment, and like any other time, you get 24 hours. So we’re going to enjoy it for 24 hours, and we wake up tomorrow, and we get ready for Kentucky. I think they’ve been through it, this is the second time Raven’s been through it. For Madina, and Maryam, and Ta’Niya, I think they really know what’s at stake, and they want to continue to play. They’ll stay in the moment.”

It feels like we’re asking every week about Madina’s success. 12-0 run by herself in the fourth quarter, the crowd was loving it. Just, what did you see from her today? 26 (points) and 17 (rebounds), just ridiculous.

“I mean, I was looking at her stats throughout the game, and we get to the fourth quarter, and she only played 14 minutes. And I’m like, ‘Only 14 minutes?’ Then, I think she sent word up to the front of the bench that she wanted to play some more, so we got to get Madina what she wants. And then she comes in, and I mean, I didn’t realize she had 17 rebounds, 26 points. And I think her teammates wanted her to score 30, but she’s not that type of player where she’s not greedy like that. She probably wants a 30-point game when the score’s a little bit closer.”

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Raven’s been through this night before, but to see her get that kind of crowd reaction once again, what’s it been like to see her become the fan favorite that she is in the past five years?

“I mean, everybody in this building has loved up on Raven. And knowing it was going to be her last regular season home game, couldn’t go out any better way. So the fans loved up on her, I think it really…I hope it understands, you know, some of the loud noise that people that have been forcing her way throughout her career, I hope it was muffled tonight by all of the FAMS that, you know, cheered her on every time she touched the ball and definitely when she exited the game tonight.”

After the win over LSU, you said that Raven is the player that you were going to miss the most ever. Why did you say that?

“One, Raven is just really consistent with how she comes in every day. She is incredibly funny, without even trying. Like, without even trying. Some of the stuff that comes out of her mouth, it brings me joy. Like, it really brings me joy. And she’s just so mild-mannered. Like, she doesn’t have a, like, any ill-will to her. She’s just her. And she’s a joy to be around. And she’s who she is, she’ll actually say if something bothers her, she’ll say if she’s good. And that’s what I like about her. She knows who she is and she doesn’t mind speaking or living to that truth of hers. So I’ll miss that part of it, but I’ll certainly miss just her every day in practice. It’s a little different because there’s a certain comfort level that you have with players to bring it every day. Like, they always give you a boost knowing that if they’re on the floor, we got a really good chance of winning. So, I’m going miss that feeling.”

How did it make the night more special with the type of impactful performances (the seniors) had, and what’s that like for a coaching staff on senior night when your seniors can have big nights like they did?

“I mean, although all of them haven’t been here for four years, it doesn’t really feel like that, just because of their contributions that they’ve given to our program. I mean, we feel that, you guys probably don’t know everything about it, but we feel it. Ta’Niya could’ve gone anywhere else in the country for a lot more NIL money, a lot more. A lot more, right? She chose to come spend her last year with us, like, forever indebted to her for that. Maryam again, like, I can’t say enough great things about Maryam. Just really the most positive person that you’ll ever be around. Madina, Big Mama, again, could have gone anywhere in the country for a lot more, again, NIL money. But I think when we recruit them, we give them the absolute truth. And I know that all the things they have been through, the confidence going up and down, just fluctuating, you know, sometimes you second-guess whether or not you made the right decision, but seeing that through and knowing that you hurdled that moment and you trust us to get you through those moments. … Raven, just her legacy of winning that she (imparts) to every one of her teammates. And I know, probably, the seniors all probably feel a little bit of what I’m feeling right now about Raven, because she just wants to win. It doesn’t matter if she’s got the spotlight, she’ll probably shun it to everybody else, but Raven wants to win. And I think that kind of sums up her legacy, and then probably has given the three seniors that, wherever they go. We hope that it’s in the WNBA, but if it’s not, that they take that attitude everywhere they go. And I know they’ll be successful.

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