How Dawn Staley’s calm halftime reminder helped South Carolina come back to beat Indiana
There is something mesmerizing about watching Dawn Staley on the sideline. At times, she looks like a statue. Relaxed. Stoic. Her facial expression almost up for interpretation. Is she happy? Is she just staying patient? Is she fuming inside? How can you not wonder ...
“What’s going through her mind?” asked junior Maryam Dauda. “I wonder that, too. She doesn’t show her emotions as (much) as other coaches.”
Early in what became a 64-53 win over Indiana to send the Gamecocks (32-3) to the Sweet 16, the three-time national champion coach leaned on the scorer’s table, her legs and arms crossed like the Dalai Lama watching someone pour a glass of milk.
Her team was playing some of its worst basketball of the season. The Gamecocks scored just nine points in the first quarter. A few minutes into the second, they were down eight.
Did it seem like someone shrunk USC’s rims by a few inches? Yes. But it was not just that every South Carolina shot caromed off the rim, the Gamecocks were out of sorts. Sped up. Careless with the ball. Not defending the 3-pointer well enough.
Down 26-25 at the half, one feared for what those South Carolina players were going to endure in the locker room. Even Indiana coach Teri Moren guessed after the game that Staley walked into the locker room “spirited,” and got on her players to pick it up.
But that’s not Staley. And that’s not this team.
“If she’s not calm, we’re not gonna be calm,” forward Chloe Kitts said.
“If your coach is freaking out,” Dauda added, “I’d be freaking out as a player.”
When the Gamecocks go into the locker room at halftime, the coaches huddle together in a separate room until the third quarter countdown reaches 10 minutes. That puts the onus on the players to figure things out, to set the tone and deliver an opening message.
On this day, a pair of seniors — Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall — were among those who spoke up.
“I just told the team, let’s keep it simple,” Paopao said. “I think we were second-guessing ourselves.”
Said Hall, who led USC with 11 points: “I told them that if we’re not going to be making shots, we have to lock in on defense.”
And then Staley walked in, as calm as ever, addressing a team that was down at halftime for just the fourth time all season.
She told her squad to play South Carolina basketball, perhaps a cliche way of saying, “Don’t shoot 34% and turn the ball over seven times.” But, nonetheless, the message was to settle down. To run the plays. To do what this team is good at — feed the ball into the post and if the double team comes, kick it out for 3.
And Staley also reminded her team why no team in America wants to play these Gamecocks.
“Coach said, ‘They can’t play for 40 minutes,’ ” guard Raven Johnson said of Staley’s speech. “ ’We have (12) players. They only play six players. Let’s run them out of the gym. They’re gonna get tired.’ ”
And, well, that’s exactly what happened.
Twenty-eight seconds into the second half, Kitts hit a fade-away in the paint — one of those shots that would have assuredly rimmed out in the first half — and all was well. The Gamecocks had a lead they would never relinquish. Shots kept falling. And all that depth began to wear out the Hoosiers.
“They got tired in the third quarter,” Johnson said. “They were exhausted.”
In total, 10 South Carolina players saw the court with only one — Bree Hall — playing over 30 minutes. Meanwhile, four of Indiana’s starters logged over a half-hour of playing time. Three of them were on the court for over 36 minutes.
It’s why the Gamecocks outscored Indiana by a dozen in the second half. They weren’t just calm, they were rested.
South Carolina’s next NCAA game
- Who: South Carolina vs. Maryland
- When: 5 p.m. Friday
- TV: ESPN
- Stream: ESPN app
This story was originally published March 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM.
