Dawn Staley lays down some harsh truths after No. 1 Gamecocks fall in ugly fashion
Selfish. Untamable. Uncoachable. Unrecognizable.
Those were just some of the descriptions that coach Dawn Staley offered up in her unsparing assessment of South Carolina women’s basketball’s 54-46 loss to North Carolina State on Thursday night.
The defeat was the No. 1 Gamecocks’ first in 30 games, their first at home since March 3, 2019. But it was the way USC lost Thursday that galled Staley, to lead her to declare that “in my 21 years (coaching), I never felt what I felt during the game.”
It’s not hard to see where Staley’s frustration came from. The Wolfpack are a good team, the defending ACC champion, but they shot just 29.4% from the field, 23.5% from 3-point range. They were missing one of their top players in sophomore forward Jada Boyd, and their All-American Elissa Cunane had nearly as many turnovers as field goals.
In other words, the win was there for the taking. The Gamecocks simply refused to take it.
“I think we probably put basketball back a few years, with both of our play,” Staley said of both teams. “I think they’re a lot more efficient than what they played. We’re a lot of more efficient than what we played. Somebody had to win, and unfortunately for us, they won the battle of some bad basketball.”
Dreadful shooting, compounded by poor shot selection, resulted in a 27% shooting and what tied USC’s lowest point total in six years.
“We just had no flow. We were a team that I’ve never seen before. I’ve never coached a team that performed that way,” Staley said. “It was pickup basketball. I’m just not used to it, so we’re going to have figure some things out.”
Specifically, N.C. State packed the paint, often having a second defender help harass star sophomore forward Aliyah Boston whenever she touched the ball. The Wolfpack played man-to-man defense for much of the contest, but often sagged off South Carolina’s shooters.
But at the end of the night, it was Boston who was arguably South Carolina’s best shooter. She went 1 for 3 from 3-point range and hit another long jumper. Sophomore guard Zia Cooke was the only other player to hit a 3. More often than not, South Carolina either forced the ball inside into traffic or drove straight into that congestion and put up wild shots that had little chance of success.
“Bad shots. Bad shot selection, in the worst way,” Staley said, summing up the issues. “When you’re not able to survive a 10-0 run, when you shoot 27% from the field ... what did we shoot in the second quarter? 10% in the second quarter. I told our team, I could be blindfolded with defense and I could shoot better than 10%. That just tells me that we’re taking bad shots and we don’t have any flow.”
Of course, one loss does not ruin a season. While South Carolina is likely to drop from No. 1 in the rankings Monday, goals of a Final Four and national championship are still very much alive. Indeed, the Gamecocks will still likely be considered one of the favorites come NCAA tournament time.
And as Staley did point out, Thursday’s result can be helpful and “open our eyes” to what the Gamecocks need to do better moving forward. Last year, South Carolina lost early in the year to Indiana, and Staley and her players later cited it as a turning point in building the team’s massive success.
Still, the feel of that loss to Indiana, where foul calls played a large role, was far different from the mood Thursday. Without seniors Tyasha Harris and Mikiah Herbert Harrigan, now graduated and in the WNBA, the Gamecocks had a noticeable void in leadership, one that Staley was quick to note won’t fill itself as the season progresses.
“You can’t assume at this point. When you take a loss and it looks as bad as it does, you have to figure out who that person is or who the persons are that will be able to do that,” Staley said of who will lead the team. “But somebody’s got to do it, and it can’t be from the coaching staff, because there’s not enough timeouts in the game. I mean, we can teach them some things in practice, but when they are completely different than how you prepped, that takes your breath away a little bit.”
Last year, South Carolina was able to bounce back from its loss quickly, taking down Washington State the next day, then knocking off No. 2 Baylor the day after that. This year, USC has another quick turnaround, flying out to play No. 23 Iowa State on Sunday. When the Gamecocks tip off against the Cyclones, things will be different, Staley pledged.
“It was just, just selfish play (Thursday). Really selfish play that we’re going to fix between now and Sunday, for sure. I promise you that, we’re gonna fix it before we take the floor again,” Staley said.
NEXT GAME
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (3-1) vs. No. 23 Iowa State (2-1)
When: Noon, Sunday
Where: Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa
TV: ESPNU
This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 7:47 AM.
