Staley’s plans for tough schedule had purpose. That Gamecocks are winning is a bonus
The sounds from a South Carolina victory celebration spilled over from the Imperial Arena stands and into a postgame press conference area Monday inside Paradise’s Island Atlantis resort.
Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley and star players Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke fielded questions from reporters with a chorus of cheering fans in earshot following No. 1 South Carolina’s 73-57 romp over No. 2 UConn for the Battle 4 Atlantis championship.
A few hundred Gamecock supporters — “FAMS,” as they’re affectionately known — only moments earlier broke into a “USC!” chant as Boston drove to the basket for the game’s final layup. The All-American forward finished her afternoon with 22 points and 15 rebounds.
“They brought the energy, even if UConn went on a run,” Boston said afterward. “But when we started scoring, you heard them, no matter what. When we got a stop, when we scored, it just felt good to hear them in the crowd and continue to push us.”
The Gamecocks (6-0) clinched their second-ever win over UConn (3-1), coming back from a 13-point deficit in the second quarter. South Carolina outscored the Huskies 23-5 in the game’s final 12 minutes.
With Monday’s win, top-ranked South Carolina tallied its third victory over a top-10 opponent through the first six games of its 2021-22 season — and there are three more non-conference games against current top-10 teams on the schedule, all at Colonial Life Arena.
It’s all part of Staley’s plan to “measure themselves” against other top teams and have South Carolina battled tested come time for conference play and eventually the NCAA tournament.
“We probably upped the ante a little bit, especially when we have the personnel,” said Staley, who has sought to create tough schedules since she coached at Temple. “(Cooke and Boston) have been here for three years. They played at a high level when they first came to South Carolina, and they need to be challenged.”
The Gamecocks opened the season with a 66-57 road win over No. 5 N.C. State and recorded back-to-back top-10 victories in the Bahamas, first with an 80-63 rout of No. 9 Oregon Sunday before Monday’s 16-point win over No. 2 UConn.
South Carolina’s slate boasts 12 matchups against teams ranked in either the AP or coaches’ preseason top 25s, tied with reigning NCAA champion Stanford for most in the country.
“We could schedule some cupcakes and possibly get our younger players a little bit more playing time and experience, but you have to feed them,” Staley said. “They want to play the very best teams in the country, and they want to measure themselves. They want to prepare themselves for long career in basketball, and you do that playing the best teams.”
Allowing 54 points to UConn in the first three periods, South Carolina suffocated the Huskies’ quick-paced offense in the fourth. UConn dropped just 3 points off a single basket in Monday’s final 10 minutes, the fewest fourth-quarter points scored in any Division I game this year, according to HerHoopStats.
“Our defense did a super job for 40 minutes,” Staley said. “You didn’t really see the impact in the first half. The third and fourth quarters are when you start feeling what our defense does to the teams.”
Offensively, the Gamecocks imposed their will late after a contested first half that saw UConn leading by three at halftime. South Carolina veterans Boston, Cooke and Destanni Henderson all scored in double figures Monday, finishing with 22, 17 and 15 points, respectively.
After South Carolina surged throughout a back-and-forth third period, the Huskies fell on the wrong side of a 16-3 fourth-quarter point differential that tied for their worst since the 2015-16 season, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
“To be honest, they punched us, and we fell and didn’t punch back,” Huskies guard Christyn Williams said. “We had a heck of a first half. Things were flowing offensively and defensively. It was just the fourth quarter really. They hit some big shots, and we couldn’t get it going offensively.”
South Carolina’s upcoming four-game home stretch starts with matchups against Elon (Nov. 26), North Carolina A&T (Nov. 29) and Kansas State (Dec. 3) before hosting No. 3 Maryland on Dec. 12.
Maryland (6-0) tallied a top-10 win over No. 6 Baylor Sunday and will face No. 5 N.C. State and No. 7 Stanford before making a trip to Colonial Life Arena.
Stanford comes to Columbia on Dec. 21. UConn visits Colonial Life Arena on Jan. 27.
Following Monday’s win over the Huskies, Staley reiterated her persistent message that competitive matchups can only help the Gamecocks, win or lose. Victories are great, but the focus stays on building into the next game.
“It gives us another top-10 win,” Staley said. “We want it to help us moving forward. The next time we step on the floor, we don’t want any slippage. We don’t want any lapses. We want to be the team that came down here focused, ready to take on any challenge.”
South Carolina basketball schedule: Next game
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (6-0) vs. Elon (3-0)
When: 3 p.m. Friday
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC
Watch: Streaming on SEC Network Plus
