How this year’s Gamecocks are ‘very similar’ to Staley’s Final Four team at Virginia
The last time someone crushed Duke women’s basketball as badly as Dawn Staley’s South Carolina did Thursday was in 1992, when Virginia, led by a younger and still-playing Dawn Staley, blew the doors off the Blue Devils 93-48.
In that game 27 years ago, Staley had 14 points, seven assists and four steals. When asked Thursday if she remembered anything about that dominant performance, Staley said she did not. But she does remember that 1991-92 Virginia team, and she sees some similarities with the 2019-20 Gamecocks.
“We had great players at all positions and we had depth. And that’s what this team has. We were probably more seasoned in that that was my senior year, and these are a mixture of youngsters and some old heads,” Staley said. “But we were very defensive-minded, but we also could score in a lot of different ways. So it’s very similar. I just hope it doesn’t end the same way.”
The way it ended for Virginia in 1992 was a Final Four loss, denying Staley a national championship until South Carolina’s 2017 title run. There’s still a long way to go for this current edition of the Gamecocks, but the thought of a deep NCAA tournament run, which might have seemed a year or two off at the beginning of the season, is becoming more and more realistic.
“I just came into the season with an open mind. And I was going to just try to let the freshmen do what they do and just kind of guide them. And that’s pretty much what we’re doing,” Staley said. “They just have an incredible ability to approach games like they’ve been here before, and they don’t let being on a bigger stage affect them in any kind of way.”
The past two games have been prime examples — Purdue and Duke are both potential NCAA tournament teams, with top-30 RPI numbers early in the season. And South Carolina rolled through them both in impressive fashion. Six players scored in double figures in each game, and both opponents had more turnovers than made field goals.
That 1991-92 Virginia team had four players average more than 10 points per game, the same number South Carolina currently has. And defensively, the Cavaliers allowed 59.4 points per game. Right now, USC is giving up just 52.1 per contest.
That defensive tenacity has been especially key to Carolina’s hot start. Just two opponents have cracked 60 points against the Gamecocks, and freshman guard Zia Cooke said after Duke that the team takes pride in strong defense being its primary calling card. What it comes down to, both Cooke and Staley said, is competition.
“This team is really locked into the details, and they stick with it and they’re competitive,” Staley said. “Like if you look at (freshman guard) Brea Beal, Brea Beal takes who she’s guarding as an incredible challenge. She’s counting. She’s counting how many points that someone scores on her. And if we have it wrong, she’ll correct us. So, it is that. You can’t teach that.”
Beal was one of the players tasked with guarding Duke’s leading scorer, guard Haley Gorecki, on Thursday. Gorecki finished the game with just four points on 2-of-13 shooting with nine turnovers, while Beal had a stat line with some similar numbers to Staley nearly three decades ago — 10 points, seven rebounds and three steals.
Before South Carolina can plan ahead for an NCAA tournament run, the Gamecocks will have to take on the gauntlet of an SEC schedule. But even Staley acknowledged Thursday that the team’s historic thumping of the Blue Devils took her a little by surprise.
“We generate a lot of offense from our defense, and it was great to be a part of,” Staley said. “I didn’t anticipate it would get out of hand like this but, I’d rather be on this side of it.”
NEXT
Who: No. 5 South Carolina (11-1) vs. No. 25 South Dakota (11-1)
When: Noon Sunday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: Streaming on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
