Everything Dawn Staley said after South Carolina's win over Auburn

South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media following the team’s 83-66 win over Auburn. Here’s everything she had to say.

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On how South Carolina adjusted to early struggles close to basket

“Did we? I didn’t feel like it. I mean, we just brought it to their attention. It’s hard – this league is really hard when people do things really well and when we’re getting people’s best shot. They have energy for an extended period of time.

“I think, for us, we needed to turn up our defense. That’s one way of controlling how many offensive rebounds that you can get. You steal the ball, there’s no shot – you don’t have to worry about that. I thought we did a good job just pressuring and getting our hands on it and knocking the ball loose for some easy buckets on the other end, so that’s somewhat controlling it.”

On Staley’s emotions during A’ja Wilson’s jersey retirement ceremony

“I think it was probably more build up to this moment because she got a chance to share it with all the people who have cheered for her, who have impacted her, who she’s impacted, in the place which she made an electrical place to play. And then, the way it was lit up was kind of really cool. Like, I didn’t know what to expect. I’m like, ‘Where is it?’ I was trying to find it before it was unveiled. I don’t know if that’s going to be the permanent spot, but our marketing people did a great job just with unveiling it and giving A’ja (Wilson) her moment.

“I’m happy that we’re able to give her her flowers at such a young age to where she’ll be able to smell them for a very, very long time. And it was really cool. It’s a really cool moment to be a part of.”

On Wilson’s influence on South Carolina women’s basketball

“I mean, what she means to our program is legendary. You think of legendary as just what they do on the court. I think the magic of A’ja is all the other stuff. Like, it’s okay to come to a local college, university, and take on the pressures. It’s a pressure thing because you’re doing it in front of all the people that know you. You only want do well in front of them, and you don’t want them to see you (experience) growing pains in front of you. But it’s just part of it.

“A’ja opened the door for that, for them to feel all the feelings that they have, good or bad – and all the pressures that they have, good or bad. And because of A’ja, we continue to get the top talent. Our FAMs, they create an experience that, if you don’t come here, you’re going to feel like you’re missing out, even if you’re somewhere else and you watch us on TV. You watch what they say about us if you’re on social media.

“It’s really a cool thing that, I know that it won’t last forever. But we’re enjoying the time that the light is showing on the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team.”

Win tickets to the South Carolina-Florida women’s basketball game

On South Carolina’s fast-break points against Auburn

“We needed it. I think someone asked me, ‘What do I want to see more of our defense?’ And I said just that – just producing points with our defense. We can guard you in the half court, and we can disrupt you. We can force you into bad shots, right? That doesn’t mean it’s automatically a score down the other end.

“What we did today was, we produced points from our defense. We knocked the ball loose; we got steals into easy baskets, and it alleviated some of the pressure of having to execute in a half-court offense because they disrupted us. They were in us; they pressured us. They forced us out. (And) they didn’t allow us to just make passes from point A to B to C. You had to find a way, and some of that was just having to go one-on-one – just put your head down and go. And we dribbled a whole lot. So, I said their pressure will be affecting us if we’re dribbling a whole lot, and we did a whole lot of that tonight.”

On South Carolina’s lack of offensive chemistry in the half-court

“Well, I think it had everything to do with Auburn’s defense because we promote ball reversals, we promote passing the basketball. They stayed on it for the entire game. They made us go into our second, third, fourth options in our sets, if you saw a set out there. (And) they made us go into our spread offense, where we’re just reading and reacting to how we’re being guarded. We had to do a lot of that today, so it’s not all that pretty. But their defense was pretty effective, so we found a way to win. We found a way to put 83 points on the scoreboard, not having to run, basically, a whole lot of half-court sets.”

On where South Carolina needs to improve ahead of road games against Georgia and Texas

“I think we got to find a way to box out. It’s too many offensive rebounds for easy putbacks. I do think we need to continue to generate offense from our defense by way of stealing it and going down to get some easy buckets. I do think we need to be able to handle the physicality a lot better. The next two games will be very physical basketball games, and we can’t allow it to be disruptive as much as it was today.”

On Mac Credille’s health status

“(Longtime USC employee) Mac (Credille) is family. I’ve known Matt for 17 years now. I just caught the end of it when, I think, he fell. I think he was a little wobbly on his feet. And when I went over to him, he seemed okay, but our medical staff thought it would be a good idea for him to get checked out. So, I think he went over to the hospital. I’ll get a further checkup after I leave here.”

On how Joyce Edwards puts herself in situations to score

“I mean, there’s cadence to offense. The ball finds who should shoot it. A lot of times, Joyce (Edwards) puts herself in a position to where it’s quite natural for her to shoot it, or she puts herself in a position where she gets the ball to the paint. And then, she’s got two-move capability, but she plays basketball the right way. When you play the right way, it looks easy – because it is easy. She’s just playing incredibly well at a really good pace, where she’s seeing it, and she’s able to make really good decisions.

“I said this on a postgame interview – it’s not a one-woman race for National Freshman of the Year. So, I got to put a narrative out there that Joyce is doing some incredible things, right? We have a tendency to just focus on one, right? What she’s been able to do in the type of schedule that we have, it’s not easy. So, I just don’t want people to forget what Joyce is doing over here because we’re not going to just allow awards to be given out with no consideration from our players here – for doing it the right way, for playing the schedule that we play and for having the team that we have.

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“You can find some really good players on our team to recognize. Yes, we are a team because I remember when other people had great teams, they’ve had multiple people on All-American teams, so let’s not forget about that. I just got to throw that out there because I don’t want people to think it’s a shoo-in. You got to look at the players on our team and what they’re doing in our game, for our game.”

On how Staley encourages players to take shots they need to take

“Well, it’s not calling your number – it’s taking the shot that you’re supposed to take. Chloe (Kitts) probably felt like she shot a lot more than she usually shoots. So, now, she gets gun shy because she’s feeling that.

“It’s just playing the right way. When you play the right way, it should be a very clear process. Like, it should be very clear. If there’s more than 10 seconds on the shot clock, there shouldn’t be any panicking. – it should be very smooth process. And sometimes, I guess, today, Chloe just played mind games with herself, right? Sometimes, it happens. It’s an unselfish act, but at the same time, if she doesn’t shoot it, we have to start that process all over. We don’t have the luxury of time.

“To get ahead of the possession offensively is, to me, the whole objective on offense – get somebody a wide-open shot. When you have it, you got to take it – or one more to create the best shot on the floor. She had the best shot on the floor a couple of times, and she didn’t take it.”

On balancing energy with execution after “bye week”

“(We were) a little rusty. There’s a cadence to our schedule, as well – Thursday, Sunday, Thursday, Sunday, Monday. And when that cadence is broken, just from a bye week, it throws you off a little bit. But Auburn did a great job. They did a really great job defensively, and they made us work. They had a player on their team that was at 31 (points). Like, she (DeYona Gaston) gave us the business. It wasn’t hard to see – we got to give credit where credit is due. They made us adjust to them.”

On the atmosphere at Colonial Life Arena and how it affected South Carolina’s players

“I think our players really try to focus in and keep the main thing the main thing for them. But it does get a little distracting when you’re competing. Like, (when) the main thing (you’re) competing (with) is A’ja’s retirement ceremony, it’s a little bit hard.

“I think what you’re seeing is women’s basketball at its finest – meaning we’re popular. People want to come and check it out. I think (comedian and actress) Wanda Sykes is here. If it’s her very first time coming here and experiencing this, I’m sure she’ll be back. But it’s super cool. I think (Miami Heat forward) Bam Adebayo was here – I don’t know why. It was great to have him in the building because he hit the game-winner last night.

“So, it’s cool, it’s popular. We need to recognize that, too. Like, we’re at, probably, our most popular state, and it’s a great place to be. We just want to continue to elevate our game and to be appreciated.”

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