Never beating UConn ‘absolutely’ bothers Dawn Staley, but USC must stay ‘true to form’
When Dawn Staley re-started the series between South Carolina and UConn in 2015, the Gamecocks were ascending to elite levels, advancing further in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament than ever before. So it was time to see how her team matched up against the very best of the best.
“You wanna measure yourself, and they were the best team in the country and the decade, and what better way to do that? Their style of play is a little bit of different than what you usually see. They just execute and play both sides of the ball at a really high level, and you just want to continue to measure yourself,” Staley said of her reasoning for scheduling those early games in the series.
Five years later, the Gamecocks are No. 1 and UConn will be the underdog heading into their matchup Monday. But for a fierce competitor like Staley, her program’s 0-8 record against the Huskies remains a little bit of a sticking point.
“Absolutely. Who likes to keep losing?” Staley responded when asked if never beating UConn bothered her. “It does. Hopefully the tide has turned, and we’re able to bring one home.”
Heading into the game, the Gamecocks also have more at stake than just the chance to finally get one over on Connecticut. A win would give USC its ninth victory over a ranked opponent and fourth over one in the top 10, burnishing a resume that Staley feels is already among the nation’s very best. By besting UConn, South Carolina would tighten its grip on the No. 1 overall seed with six regular season games to go.
“We didn’t talk about it with our team, but it’s something,” Staley said of the game’s impact on seeding. “I think we can strengthen our hold on being the No. 1 team, the No. 1 overall and hopefully being in Greenville. You win the game, it take cares of itself. You lose the game, and then everybody else has their opinion on what it is what. So hopefully we can squash that.”
And there’s also the factor of atmosphere — South Carolina announced Sunday that there were only 1,000 tickets left, and there’s a strong chance of a sellout, 18,000-person crowd coming to Colonial Life Arena and giving the game even more excitement. On one hand, Staley said, it will simulate the feel of a Final Four crowd, something she obviously wants her players used to. On the other, she doesn’t want them getting too excited.
“When you heighten things up even more, your players take heed to that. And I just want it to be as normal as the 23 games that we’ve played,” Staley said.
Still, given UConn’s history and South Carolina’s success this year, there’s no denying this is a big game.
“It’s been pretty steady, and it’s amped up a little bit more,” Staley said of the mood in practice. “I get text messages about what we need to do, and that’s rare, when your players are texting you like, ‘We can do this, we can do that, I think this will work.’ So we’re engaged on all levels.”
And while USC’s players say they’re just treating it like every other game, Staley said there’s no escaping the knowledge of Connecticut’s history. The Gamecocks just have to move past it.
“All of our players grew up in the time in which UConn was dominant, and that’s all you heard,” Staley said. “So you can’t really block that out. What you can do is try to quickly get back true to form, true to who we are in the last 23 games we’ve played.”
WHEN DOES SOUTH CAROLINA PLAY UCONN?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (22-1, 10-0 SEC) vs. No. 4 UConn (20-2, 10-0 American)
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: ESPN2
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
