USC coach Dawn Staley has jokes about LSU crowd noise after road win
The No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team pulled off a comeback in a hostile road venue Thursday, roaring back from down 11 points to topple No. 9 LSU, 76-70. With the win, USC remains the only undefeated team in the country.
After an intense game at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center, coach Dawn Staley was asked in her postgame news conference about the road crowd and how they, according to a reporter, “they weren’t very friendly to you.”
“Yes they were,” Staley joked. “They were calling me ‘Boo.’ ”
Here’s a quick recap of the rest of Staley’s postgame presser:
Special moment with Aliyah Boston
Before Bree Hall hit two huge 3-pointers for USC, putting the Gamecocks up 70-67 and 73-70, guess who spoke to her during a timeout?
Her former teammate Aliyah Boston, Staley said. The USC legend and reigning WNBA Rookie of the Year is a longtime friend of Hall’s and provided some timely words of wisdom.
“Give it up to Aliyah Boston today because she said something to Breezy in the timeout that really relaxed her, settled her down to be able to see the ball coming to her,” Staley said. “It’s practice shots, what (Hall) does every single day. ... She didn’t hesitate.”
On overcoming a deficit on the road
“It’s circumstances ... We’re gonna play for 40 minutes no matter what the score is, whether we’re down double digits or up double digits big ... It was all us the first half. LSU had a lot to do with it. Once we settled in, it was still a dogfight, a game of runs. They made big plays. We made big plays. It was the team that made the last play that was gonna win this basketball game.”
Amazing atmosphere
Staley said Thursday’s game between the No. 1 and No. 9 teams in the country in front of a sellout crowd was “utopia ... It had all the dynamics of what you want every women’s basketball player to experience. We’re going to talk about this for years, but I hope we don’t, because they’ll be replaced by other experiences.”
She later added: “What we are witnessing is truly special. The atmosphere here, everything. I’ve never seen this many people in any plaza for a regular season game. The energy that was in this building was great. I love being in the gym with people who are really loving up on women’s basketball. ... It’s not going anywhere.”
On the battle between Chloe Kitts and Aneesah Morrow
“They battled. It was great to see, two young talented posts that were going at it. And it’s not like they were talking smack to each other. They were doing it with their game. It was good to see them impact the game in various ways.”
On Angel Reese fouling out
“Angel’s a talent. She’s aggressive, she’s poised, she’s unselfish ... She’s gonna play til the end and give it her all, and if you’re LSU that’s what you lose. ... They did a great job tying the score, taking the lead in her absence but you don’t get another offensive rebound, a steal, a spectacular. For us, we tried to capitalize on her absence.”
This story was originally published January 25, 2024 at 10:45 PM.
