Gamecocks make discovery in win over Mississippi State
There are nine conference games to go, and a lone non-conference game at No. 1 Connecticut.
Monday’s win over Mississippi State was gritty, inspiring and wonderful, coach Dawn Staley said, but the road isn’t any less treacherous.
So there’s no need to celebrate.
“I saw something a little bit different in our team against Mississippi State and we’re going to keep pulling that out of them. For them to be able to compete for 40 minutes,” Staley said Wednesday. “It’s there – that’s the thing we’ve been struggling with all season long, but they put it together.”
South Carolina has kept winning, re-establishing its place at the top of the SEC with a win over the previously undefeated Bulldogs. They did it with A’ja Wilson refusing to let them lose, a second-half defensive lockdown from Kaela Davis and Allisha Gray channeling her takeover role.
Staley wants to see all of that all of the time. The Gamecocks have only lost one of 18 games, but there have been others where they’ve not been as complete a team as they can be. Against MSU, they were.
In these final 10 games, and into the postseason, she wants it every night.
“Our coaches really don’t give us a choice but to make it that easy for us,” Wilson said. “They really don’t let us stay in the moment for very long.”
And it’s very easy this week, despite having one less day to prep for the next game. Georgia walked into Colonial Life Arena two weeks ago and nearly beat the Wilson-less Gamecocks. Bianca Cuevas-Moore’s career-high 25 points was the difference.
Georgia dared Cuevas-Moore to beat it last time, and she did. Even with Wilson back, Georgia will switch from man to zone defense to try and limit USC’s post tandem, and its three guards.
It’s good to play a road game after a big win, with another big opponent coming in Monday (Tennessee). The schedule and the way Staley is constantly reminding them of the road ahead sharpens focus.
“If you were in our practice today, we’re not going to let them off the hook. So hopefully we won’t look back,” Staley said. “Playing in this league, there are no easy nights, none.”
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Game info
Who: No. 5 USC (17-1, 7-0 SEC) at Georgia (10-9, 2-4)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Stegeman Coliseum; Athens, Ga.
TV: SEC Network
Radio: 107.5 FM
South Carolina’s probable starters: G Ty Harris 5-10 Fr. (5.2 ppg, 1.8 rpg); G Allisha Gray 6-0 Jr. (13.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg); G Kaela Davis 6-2 Jr. (12.6 ppg, 4.1 rpg); F A’ja Wilson 6-5 Jr. (16.8 ppg, 7.4 rpg); C Alaina Coates 6-4 Sr. (14.4 ppg, 10.9 rpg)
Georgia’s probable starters: G Haley Clark 5-9 Jr. (4.8 ppg, 3.2 rpg); G Shanea Armbrister 6-2 Sr. (6.5 ppg, 4.0 rpg); G/F Pachis Roberts 5-11 Sr. (14.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg); F Mackenzie Engram 6-2 Jr. (11.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg); F Caliya Robinson 6-3 So. (13.8 ppg, 6.5 rpg)
Next game: South Carolina hosts Tennessee at 6 p.m. on Monday
This story was originally published January 25, 2017 at 5:39 PM with the headline "Gamecocks make discovery in win over Mississippi State."