After some ‘sleepless nights,’ Destanni Henderson returns to form to power USC
Coach Dawn Staley’s made no secret of it this season: As Destanni Henderson goes, so does South Carolina women’s basketball.
In most cases, that’s worked out just fine for the Gamecocks, as the junior point guard’s up-tempo style and steady demeanor have translated to a top-five ranking and an undefeated record in SEC play.
This past Monday against UConn, however, Henderson was in trouble. She turned the ball over eight times, a career high. Typically a pesky defender, she recorded no steals. Normally an efficient scorer, she went 5 of 17 from the field. Even worse, she was just 1 of 5 from the free throw line. And sure enough, just as she struggled, so did South Carolina, losing 63-59.
Three days later, though, and Henderson was right back on track. Missouri was giving the Gamecocks some trouble on their home court Thursday, before Henderson exploded for seven unanswered points in the third quarter to put the game. Her turnovers plunged to just one, and her steals jumped to four. Her 11 points, while the same total she recorded against UConn, came from a crisp 5-of-8 shooting performance.
In between those two games, Staley said, were some “sleepless nights” for USC’s quiet floor general.
“I knew in the moment I was messing up,” Henderson said of that UConn contest. “So from then to now, I just had to really accept it for me to get over it and just focus on the next game, which is always hard, because you don’t like losing. But for me, I knew I made a lot of mistakes, and if I would have not made those mistakes, I knew we probably could have had a better turnout. But, just have to let it go and just refocus for the next game.”
As a coach and a former star point guard in her own right, Staley saw those mistakes as well as anybody. But rather than yell in practice or go overboard trying to break down the problem with Henderson, she decided to leave her be.
“(Assistant coach Jolette Law) texted her Tuesday night just to check up on her, and when she got that text message, she felt pretty good about where she was,” Staley said. “But she’s not one that, I don’t raise my voice because she’s not that type. She’s a really nice young lady. We have no issues, like zero ... so there’s no need to yell at her. There’s no need to pound her. I think she really has an understanding of how she needs to play for us.”
During the team’s Thursday shootaround before the game, Staley said she did take Henderson aside for just a moment to ask how she was doing. Henderson said she was good, and that was that.
“A point guard like Destanni Henderson, I let it sink in. I don’t want to jolt her out of it,” Staley said. “Because she’s more of calm, cool, collected. So I want her to be calm, cool and collected and thinking about what took place in her game.”
With six games left in the regular season, Henderson is averaging 5.6 assists per game this year, on pace for 10th in program history. Her assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.196 is on pace for fourth in the USC record book.
NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (16-2, 11-0 SEC) vs. LSU (8-9, 6-5 SEC)
When: Noon, Sunday, Feb. 14
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: SEC Network
