Dawn Staley’s strategy to push one Gamecock: ‘I’m probably going to get her mad at me’
Throughout the offseason, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley had nothing but praise for the maturation of senior forward Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan.
A talented, fiery player who sometimes let her emotions get the best of her, Herbert-Harrigan briefly entered and then withdrew from the transfer portal in April. Ever since then, Staley has repeatedly complimented her growth and leadership. On the floor she’s put up solid numbers in her final season, averaging career highs in points (12.8), rebounds (5.5) and assists (1.5) per game while starting every contest.
But as the Gamecocks prepare to visit SEC rival Georgia on Sunday, Staley said she wants to see a little more of that angry, aggressive play that Herbert-Harrigan has flashed throughout her career — channeled in the right way, of course.
“She likes to play comfortably, until she gets mad,” Staley said of Herbert-Harrigan, nicknamed Kiki. “So I’m probably going to get her mad at me at some point so we can bring that part out of her. Because Kiki, is, if you look at her statistics, in the paint, right side she’s 81%, left side she’s 79%. That’s more than (freshman forward Aliyah Boston). So we need to either get her there in our half-court stuff, or she needs to get there by running the floor or get there by offensive rebounding.”
USC has already seen some of that this season — on Monday against Mississippi State in the second quarter, as the physicality of the game increased, Herbert-Harrigan went off for seven points in just over 70 seconds, battling through heavy contact and flashing some emotion on several plays. It didn’t go unnoticed on social media.
Specifically, Staley said she had challenged Herbert-Harrigan to focus on offensive rebounding and pull down a few extra boards. The Gamecocks already rank first in the SEC and the nation in offensive rebounding rate, according to Her Hoop Stats, grabbing more than 45% of their own misses. That’s a number Staley likes and wants to keep going — it’s helped USC average 17.4 second-chance points on the season, compared to 9.1 for opponents.
Boston leads the charge for Carolina in that regard with the highest individual offensive rebounding rate of any Power 5 player. Junior guard LeLe Grissett is also tied for 100th nationally in that statistic.
“I think part of it is expected shots. So when you expect someone, one of your teammates, they’re gonna shoot the ball, you get a head start,” Staley said. “Aliyah is good at it. Aliyah has really good anticipation. So she’s always one that goes every time, whether it’s an expected or unexpected shot. And then (freshman guard Brea Beal) and LeLe, they close the gap when it comes to being athletic and going after the ball.”
This weekend against Georgia, the Gamecocks should be in good position to grab plenty of offensive boards — the Bulldogs rank ninth in the SEC in defensive rebounding rate, grabbing just over two-thirds of their opponents’ misses.
Injury report
Sophomore forward Victaria Saxton, who left the game this past Monday against Mississippi State and was seen with ice strapped to her ankle on the bench, is “doing great” but not certain to play against Georgia, Staley said Friday.
“She’s not full go (in practice). We’re gonna test that thing out (Saturday),” Staley said. “But it’s a lot better. She’s upright, she’s moving, she did some shooting. We don’t want to push it until (Saturday).”
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (18-1, 6-0 SEC) vs. Georgia (12-7, 3-3 SEC)
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
