Dawn Staley Breaks Down South Carolina’s Gritty Road Victory Over LSU
Following South Carolina’s hard-fought 79-72 win over LSU in Baton Rouge, head coach Dawn Staley met with reporters to discuss the key moments, personnel decisions, and what the victory means for her team’s championship aspirations.
Madina Okot’s Redemption Arc Continues
Staley was asked about Madina Okot’s performance, particularly her composure in the crucial fourth quarter when the game hung in the balance.
“Madina has been ramping up. Ever since we took the pressure off of her for two games (coming off the bench), we decided that she didn’t have a choice, and she had to get back in the starting lineup. I think she made big plays for us. She rebounded consistently out there and made probably the biggest play of the game,” Staley explained.
That biggest play came on a perfectly executed possession late in the game. “Raven (Johnson) gave her a lob in the dunker, and she made it, took her time, and made it. Truly proud of her because she’s been through some things this season, and hopefully she can gain some confidence from this win.”
Okot’s journey back to form has been a season-long process, with Staley strategically managing her role to rebuild her confidence while maintaining team performance.
The “Boo” Hoodies Make a Statement
In a lighthearted moment, Staley addressed the team’s wardrobe choice—hoodies emblazoned with “Boo”—which seemed perfectly suited for the hostile LSU environment.
“We were just trying to figure out what to wear. We did. Our staff wanted to wear white, and someone else brought up, ‘Let’s do the Boo hoodies.’ I think everybody stayed in character because I heard a lot of boos again,” Staley said with evident amusement.
The fashion choice reflected the team’s willingness to embrace the villain role on the road and lean into the antagonistic atmosphere.
Iron Woman Minutes for the Johnsons
With Maddy McDaniel sidelined, Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson shouldered enormous playing-time burdens, logging nearly the entire game. Staley acknowledged both the necessity and the toll of that approach.
“They had to (play a lot of minutes), when you’re down in volume without Maddy McDaniel, you’ve got to. Obviously, a lot more than we wanted them to play, and we did try to get them a little break before timeouts. But they’re built for it,” Staley said.
She added a realistic assessment of the fatigue factor: “I think if they could have gotten a couple of other blows throughout the second half, they might have had enough energy to make some more slow plays down the stretch, but they were exhausted. They got us over the mountain top.”
A Game Decided by Inches and Missed Free Throws
When asked what the victory meant, Staley provided a brutally honest breakdown of how close the game came to going the other way.
“It’s like that. It was two of the best teams in our conference, in the country, just trying to get a win. We all said the game is going to be determined in those plays (where players are tired). I thought LSU got multiple offensive rebounds at the end of the game that put them in a position to close the gap and go ahead. And then at the end, we got lucky,” Staley admitted.
“Flau’jae (Johnson) doesn’t miss free throws. And we actually got a bucket after that. It’s those kinds of plays that are determining the game. They had 18 offensive rebounds on us, and 18 offensive rebounds from a team like LSU means they win basketball games like this. So, it’s just surprising to see just how bad it was after the game.”
Staley’s candor about LSU’s 18 offensive rebounds illustrated how thin the margin of victory truly was.
The Final Possession: Trust in Playmakers
Discussing the offensive execution in the game’s final 90 seconds, Staley explained her trust in veteran leadership.
“We put the ball in Raven Johnson’s hands to make a play. We put it in a couple of people’s hands, and we got good looks. When it was down to that last possession, Raven was going to play make for herself or for her teammates. Fortunately, Madina (Okot) snuck behind the defense to give her a little layup,” Staley recounted.
She praised Okot’s patience in that critical moment: “I thought she took her time because there were a lot of times she caught it and made a move; there was a crowd there. She took her time and put it on that white square and it went in.”
Seeing the Light at the End of the Tunnel
Asked to assess where the team stands in the SEC and nationally after such a significant road victory on national television, Staley offered perspective on the team’s mental state.
“I think this team sees the end of the tunnel. Meaning, they know we’re at the end of the season, so it’s a little bit easier to just focus on what we have in front of us. This was a huge game in front of us, a huge game on the road. Very hostile environment, very NCAA tournament-like. We just found a way to win,” Staley said.
“I think this team is finding ways to win, a lot of different ways, especially when we’re not fully healthy.”
Freshman Contributions Prove Crucial
The late-game minutes from freshmen Ayla McDowell, Agot Makeer, and Maryam Dauda didn’t show up dramatically in the box score, but Staley emphasized their importance.
“Huge, huge. Maryam gave us a lift. Got a block shot; she had presence out there. It’s kind of unfair for her to play and not play almost the entire game when her numbers are called. She is someone who practices like she’s going to play every single day, like a real character person. This is her last year; she plays five minutes here and there, but you can never tell in practice. The basketball gods really repaid her tonight for that because it was a key block that she got,” Staley said.
Regarding McDowell and Makeer, she added: “Ayla’s always going to give you what she’s got. I’m happy for Agot getting out there because I know she’s been hurting. It was good to get her some minutes and understand that we’re going to be here down the stretch. Big three, big three by Agot.”
Riding the Hot Hand
Finally, Staley addressed the balance between feeding Tessa Johnson’s hot hand in the first half and maintaining offensive balance.
“She was our offense, to be quite honest. We did a really good job with force-feeding her the ball because she was hot. Tessa did a great job getting herself open and square to the basket. It’s not on her fingers long before she’s launching it, and I’m very fortunate that she was very efficient. We needed it to stay close, especially with the type of crowd that they had, because every miss, you heard it. Every transition basket they got, it really, really matters,” Staley explained.
“We wanted to do some things that could keep the crowd out of it, I don’t think we accomplished that but we did enough to get the win.”
The victory extended South Carolina’s winning streak against LSU to 18 games and demonstrated the Gamecocks’ ability to grind out victories in the most challenging environments—exactly the type of resilience championship teams must possess as March approaches.
