Cloninger Soundoff: Asia Dozier makes her impact

Junior guard Asia Dozier could have quit.

She didn’t have to put up with being a 32-game starter as a sophomore and being relegated to a backup for the first six games of this season, as coach Dawn Staley tinkered with rotations. She knew the Gamecocks had talent galore, but she had helped build the team’s reputation to get that talent galore, and now she was being pushed aside.

But she’s no quitter.

USC is thankful.

Dozier led the Gamecocks with 11 points in a win at Duke on Sunday, tossing in two 3-pointers, one “from 9,000 feet,” according to Duke coach Joanne P. McCallie. She also had a steal in her second straight game as a starter.

It will be three in a week. Staley made that rather clear.

“She’s just solid,” Staley said. “We took her out of the starting lineup at the beginning of the year, and she took it and took it well. We figured out we’re a much better basketball team with her starting the game.”

This story was originally published December 7, 2014 at 10:13 PM with the headline "Cloninger Soundoff: Asia Dozier makes her impact."