Dawn Staley Proved Prophetic in South Carolina Lineup Approach Before Bounce Back Win
The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team had their 43-game winning streak snapped on Sunday when they were defeated by the No. 1 ranked UCLA Bruins.
Despite their 18 months of dominance before that defeat, many questions arose about Dawn Staley and her team afterward, such as whether star guard MiLaysia Fulwiley should transfer because she wasn't receiving much playing time.
Much of this chatter persisted throughout the week, and even caused Dawn Staley to address whether she would consider making lineup changes ahead of South Carolina's Thanksgiving Day matchup against No. 15-ranked Iowa State.
"We're not going to change, we're going to get better, as far as starting better," Staley said about potential changes, per WACH Fox reporter Amanda Poole. "I think when we get ball reversals, we're a much more efficient basketball team, so we brought that to their attention.
"When we don't get ball reversals, it's a drastic shift in our efficiency, so we've got to incorporate a little more of that," Staley continued. "And we've got to open the floor up a little bit more for them to have some room to operate."
When asked specifically about instituting lineup changes, Staley scoffed and said, "No. No, not at all."
"We're not going to change, we're going to get better."
— amanda (@amanda_1815) November 28, 2024
Dawn Staley was asked about line-up changes ahead of the Fort Myers Tip-off matchup against Iowa State:@wachfox I @GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/E8xdxsf9t2
Staley deciding to stick with her current rotations paid dividends on Thanksgiving Day, as her Gamecocks dominated Iowa State by a score of 76-36. They were also winning 35-9 at halftime.
And there were a lot of effective ball reversals that took place during the game; one of which was captured by the Gamecocks women's basketball X account.
Ball reversal – 🎯 @HollywoodRaven pic.twitter.com/ocX2OedSQg
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) November 28, 2024
Perhaps Thursday's win marked the start of another extremely long winning streak for Staley and her squad.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.