Dawn Staley credits 'seasoned' South Carolina bench for big third quarter effort vs. Oregon State

South Carolina led by four points at halftime, but entered the final quarter with a double-digit lead after outscoring Oregon State 21-13 to open the second half.

Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley explained how her bench — all of which has scored seven points or more — helped their team cushion the lead with star forward Kamilla Cardoso on the bench with three fouls down the stretch.

“They are a season to be able to come in and give us a boost no matter what,” Staley said of her bench in an interview with ESPN’s Holly Rowe before the fourth quarter. “I think they’re doing a great job, just exploiting some of the mismatches on their guards. It may not be mismatches as far as their zone and their man to man offense, but we’ve got going with other ways of scoring.”

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Specifically, Ashlyn Watkins has been a major factor on South Carolina building this lead. She’s flirting with a double-double entering the final quarter. She has six offensive boards and nine in total, finishing with eight points with a dominating 14 rebounds.

On the season, Watkins is averaging 9.5 points and 6.9 rebounds, finishing as a second-team All-SEC forward despite starting just 10 of South Carolina’s first 36 games (including the Elite 8).

Freshman Tessa Johnson has also seen her number called a few times, scoring in double figures for the second time in four games during the tournament. Sania Feagin and Milaysia Fulwiley also had strong performances off the bench. She finished one point shy of her career-high, scoring 15 points against the Beavers.

“Second chance points and we’re guarding the three ball a little bit better,” Staley said. “They got six [3-pointers] in the first half, zero in the third quarter. We’ve got to keep that up. We still need to crash the boards.”

Catch the exciting finish to this Elite 8 matchup live on ABC. The winner will play whoever emerges victorious between Texas and NC State in the Final Four next weekend in Cleveland.

Ashlyn Watkins explains motivating factor in strong first half performance vs. Oregon State

South Carolina entered the locker room with a 37-33 lead over Oregon State in the Elite Eight on Sunday. Forward Ashlyn Watkins utilized her length to help anchor the Gamecocks on both ends of the court. 

Watkins finished the first half with six points and six rebounds off the bench — five of which came off the offensive glass. She has also added three blocks to her total as well. After missing seven of her 11 shot attempts in the Sweet 16, Watkins revealed what changed between Friday’s win and now. 

“It’s the just the energy. The other day I just didn’t have much energy. Today, I want it,” Watkins told ESPN’s Holly Rowe. “We want it and we have to pull it out.”