Dawn Staley Relays 'Locked In' South Carolina Team Looking Forward to Upcoming Break
Dawn Staley and her defending NCAA National Champion South Carolina Gamecocks squad have spent a large portion of their 2024-25 season on the road.
They opened up their title defense campaign in Las Vegas to play Michigan, then came back to the East Coast to play a game against NC State at a neutral site in Charlotte, North Carolina, had two home games, faced Clemson during an away game (which is only about a 30-minute car ride), flew back across the country to face UCLA in Los Angeles, then headed straight to Fort Myers, Florida, for two games, played one home game against Duke, then traveled to Fort Worth, Texas to play TCU — all in a span of 34 days.
That's a whole lot of traveling for 10 basketball games; especially considering that the Gamecocks roster also has school to deal with.
This is why it made sense to hear Dawn Staley say that her team is feeling a bit worn down right now when speaking to the media on Friday.
"I was tired. I was tired," Staley said when discussing her team's travel-intensive start to the season, per Matt Dowell. "I look forward to this break, I look forward to our Christmas break, although I know we got a few more games to play.
"I think our players have really locked in. I know they have to be exhausted physically, mentally, and welcome the break that's coming up. But they still want to approach each game and play to our standard," Staley continued.
Dawn Staley on the physical and mental challenges of all the traveling in their 1st 10 games:
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) December 13, 2024
"I was tired. I was tired... I think our players have really locked in. I know they have to be exhausted physically, mentally and welcome the break that's coming up."@GamecockWBB pic.twitter.com/Ay8CckYazG
If South Carolina is exhausted right now, the prospect of them being well-rested must be terrifying for opposing teams.
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.