South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley met with reporters after the Gamecocks secured an 83–66 victory over Duke in the Players Era Championship. The win sends South Carolina to Sunday’s title matchup against No. 4 Texas at 8 p.m. ET.
Below is everything Staley shared following the win.
On the Growing Chemistry Between Joyce Edwards and Madina Okot
Asked about the rapid development of her frontcourt duo, Staley emphasized how their relationship has steadily taken shape throughout the season.
“I mean, it’s growing every day. And I mean, we knew that they had to build chemistry. Like, they had to play with each other for a long time. Joyce was not with us over the summer, so you couldn’t build that chemistry when the stakes weren’t as high as they are today. And I mean, I think as coaches we’re real honest with our players, like, they have to play well together. Joyce and Mina have to play well together. Joyce and Ta’Niya [Latson] have to play well together in order for us to reach our full potential as a team. We can’t just think it’s going to magically happen. I think we have to be forceful and let them know, communicate that.”
Staley added that the coaching staff has been intentional about pushing them to refine their high-low game.
“Like, there are things that we’re missing. There are things where we can get a little bit better. Like we had someone of a assemblance of a high-low look, something that we haven’t had since we started doing it the last game, the games before that, there was no sense of high-low. And we’re a high-low basketball team. We involve our post players a lot to be decision makers, and a high-low pass is one of those decisions that we didn’t get much out of two of them. So we just start being calculating and making them do it, you know, with defense, without defense, and now we’re start to do in games.”
On Raven Johnson’s Leadership Development
Staley praised veteran guard Raven Johnson for stepping into a more assertive role this season.
“Well, I mean, for Raven’s, for previous years that she was with us, she had a core group of players that she could just kind of fall under the radar and not be that person that’s on every day. She has to be on every day because she’s our most senior guard that really understands what the needs are of our program. And she has to voice those needs because our team is looking for her to do those things. So she’s made a considerate effort to be more verbal. She’s always one that led by example, she’s always one that worked hard in practice. So she’s putting all those things together.”
On Handling Duke’s Defensive Pressure
Facing Kara Lawson’s defense-oriented game plan, Staley said Duke approached this matchup differently than expected.
“I thought they played a little bit different than their pressure defense today. I thought they gapped us a little bit more than they normally do. We were actually expecting to be denied the wings. And yet they allowed us to catch it. You know, they went under ball screens, just gave us room, and we almost fell for the bait by taking jumpshot after jumpshot after jumpshot. I thought it just was a matter of time before we, but it just, you know, see what they were giving us, and understanding if you could get by somebody, go, if you can’t, you know, kick it out and let’s try to get a head of the possession. So, it was a little surprising to see that they didn’t come out in their normal pressure defense fashion.”
On Ta’Niya Latson Adjusting to Her New Role
Staley highlighted Latson’s maturity as she adapts from being a go-to scorer to playing within a balanced, championship-level roster.
“Well, what’s impressive is when you come in with a reputation of being our nation’s leading scorer, you think about scoring, and when you don’t score, you think about scoring. But she also knew that the reason why she was coming here, that she probably knew that there would be some times in which she would score, 20, 25, 30 points; sometimes she’ll score, I don’t know, 12 points. What was striking about tonight is she’s handling those things, you know, outwardly, instead of inwardly. We talk about, there are gonna be times when we’re gonna need you to put the S and your chest and do Ta’Niya. There’s gonna be times in which, you know, you get a big performance like we had from Madina and Joyce, that, you know, the S is still there, we just don’t have to pull it out right now, okay?”
Staley said Latson is embracing the long-term “why” of choosing South Carolina.
“And just being able to handle that, and then we always go back to the why, why did you choose to come here? You chose to come here because you want put yourself in a better position to play with players who, I don’t want to say this because I don’t want to seem like I’m demeaning Florida State by any means, but we’re a little bit different in that. We got a number of players who played at the highest level in Final Fours and won national championships, that when you’re around them, it’s just a different experience. So she’s handling that quite well, and she’s only going to grow. And I think she moved the needle as far as, you know, her moving up in the draft, wherever they had her, she’s moved up in the draft because just the short period, she defends, right? She’s working on her counters to the things that she does extremely well, and we’re forcing her to do those things. So when you’re in that situation, and your team doesn’t need you to score 30 points every night. You can work on some other aspects of the game, and she’s doing that well.”
What Staley Looks for First on the Box Score
When asked about what she checks immediately after games, Staley didn’t hesitate.
“I look at turnovers, right? Then it probably jumps to points in the paint? And then the rebounding. I mean, I think those things all can win or lose you some basketball games. You know, you can win by shooting the ball well. You can win. I mean, if you rebounding the basketball, right? You’re not turning the ball over. You put yourself in that position to do that.”
Staley said she’s been encouraged by her team’s rapid growth.
“They’re finding their stride and their identity, like, and playing in a tournament like this where you know you’re gonna be challenged, you know teams are going to make adjustments. You’ve got to figure out how you adjust in real time. And they’re adjusting in real time. I want to say better than I was anticipating because I allow teams to be who they are. And then bring out the best in them. We just don’t know. We didn’t have any we had, I don’t know, six, seven games. You know, half of them are our blowouts, where if you still want to, just work on being disciplined in what you need to do while improving. But when you play in big games like this, you kind of see the upward trajectory where we can go.”
On NCAA Transfer Portal Changes
Staley expressed support for the proposed 15-day spring portal window after the Final Four.
“Yeah, I think it’s a good call. It’s a good call. I mean, people know it’s an open market even when you’re in the season. So people are making calls, people are making decisions for the next opening of the transfer portal today in real time. It’s weird, but that’s the world we live in. I would like it to be, I mean, since we’ve been in the Final Four the last couple of years, we haven’t been able to just capitalize in it because we’re playing so long into the season, we can’t have them on campus during the times that people are having transferred portalees on campus. And, let’s not waste anybody’s time. We leave it open for 30 days, you’re going to be having players on your campus for 30 days. And doesn’t bode well with the budget and all of things to come with that.”
On Bringing Back Former Coach Susan Walvius
Staley said adding Susan Walvius to the staff was a “full circle” moment.
“Yeah, I think it’s a full circle moment for Susan. Susan left South Carolina in 2008 when I came in, and I mean, Susan was kind enough over the years to, you know, allow us to utilize her mentors, like she had a mentoring program that I thought was terrific. And with enough time between, you know, when she left, and I came, and I was South Carolina for a few years. We asked her, you know, would she mind us? Just kind of recycling her thought of having mentors, you know, she was okay with that.”
Staley said Walvius’ business expertise makes her ideal for a modern college basketball environmen“And then, you know, Susan’s a successful businesswoman who created a corporation from the ground up that’s still thriving in this space, in this climate. And we like that. We like, in this climate, you have to be business-minded. You have to think a little bit outside the box and be innovative and create positions that will help in the NIL space, to help our players who are coming into a lot of money that they need some direction. I think Susan was the best person for the job, and she’s going to handle all of our NIL affairs, raise money, you know, make sure we’re giving our players financial literacy. If they want to start businesses, she’s a person with the most experience to help them along the way.”
