Dawn Staley Learned What She Already Knew, Her Team is Resilient

Joseph Griffin | Mar 30, 2024

Mar 29, 2024; Albany, NY, USA; South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley looks on from the / Gregory Fisher-USA TODAY Sports

After South Carolinas Sweet 16 win that I'm sure made Dawn Staley even more uncomfortable than comfortable, Coach Staley, Bree Hall, and Raven Johnson, who hit the big three to keep the Gamecocks on top, spoke in the post-game press conference. Raven Johnson was the first to answer questions, walking through the three-point shot at the end of the game:

"I was open and all I could think is let it go. I mean I don't want to lose, just going from last year, nobody can sag off me this year and I take that very personal and I just get in the gym every day and put-up reps, and I think what comes from that is confidence." She was again asked what the play call was, and she responded, "The play call was to get the ball in the basket."

Coach Staley then took some questions, one of the first questions being what she learned, if anything about her team from last night's game.

"I've only learned what I have already known and that's we have a resilient basketball team that doesn't like losing. They are able to make plays on both sides of the basketball through great play, through shotty play, through having a lead, having built the lead and then having it to be a one possession game, that they were able to play their way out of it. We are the habits that we've created, good and bad."

The last question coach Staley was asked to describe the process of when she believed the shot Raven took was good for the team after all the work she's put in through the year and coming off of last year.

"I see the work raven puts in every single day, every single day. she gets shots up before and after practice, they have a quota to meet each and every single day. I see that before; I see that after. I don't think about last year, I don't think about any of that when it comes to raven. It may be embedded in Ravens head and if it is, it's helping her to overcome it."

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