Everything Dawn Staley said ahead of Ole Miss matchup

Wednesday, head coach Dawn Staley spoke with members of the media ahead of South Carolina’s next road matchup against Ole Miss.

Here is everything she said.

How’s preparation for Ole Miss?

“Good, good days. Really good days.”

What are the challenges?

“They play a small lineup, basically guards and whoever big that comes off the bench. Challenge is to keep them in front of us. They like to sweep and drive to the basket, line drives, shots, floor spacer. They rebound the heck out of the basketball. They defend. So for us, taking care of the basketball, controlling the boards and controlling the paint.”

Ole Miss is known for their defense, what are you seeing from them defensively this season?

“They’re playing a smaller lineup so they can they can pressure a lot more in all five positions, a lot. So they want to be disruptive to your offense. They want to turn you over for easy buckets. They rebound the heck out of basketball. So they give themselves a chance to win, being able to do some of the things that don’t put so much strain on your half court offense.”

What do you want to see from your team over the last two games?

“Just win. At this stage of the game is just about winning, ugly wins count just as much as pretty ones. You just got to bear down. I guess it’s against Ole Miss team is just that, taking care of the balls, dominating the boards. It’s defending like we defend.”

Is there an extra level of pressure because of the tie with Texas?

“Just win. We control our own destiny, and then if we take care of business, and Texas takes care of business, and then our fate is in the coin toss. If all goes, you know, the way I’m seeing it, hopefully, Texas is probably not seeing it that way, they probably won’t us to drop a game (laughs). I hope they drop a game too (laughs) — take it out of the commissioner’s hands. So, yes, I mean, it is what it is. I think we should have thought a little bit more ahead of, you know, of this situation, knowing that we were bringing Texas and Oklahoma into the SEC. That’s just me though.”

Is this good preparation for them having a tournament mindset of what’s to come in a couple weeks?

“Yeah, I mean we, and I can probably speak for everyone needs to play their best basketball now. You can’t wait, you know, until after Selection Sunday. Can’t wait until you’re in finals of the SEC championship. It’s like now, like these last two regular season games and so forth. So I think we’re moving in the right direction. As far as getting everybody playing great at the you know, at the right time, it takes some losses for you to feel that, some losses for you correct some things and and also just get some some, some other players to elevate their their play. We’re seeing it.”

How are you balancing conversations with players eligible for the draft now that it’s almost March?

“You just have to communicate. There’s not anything that’s hidden, it’s out in front. We’ve dealt with it for the past 10 years. It’s the same conversation. But I think, I think nowadays we just, we just try to get our players to concentrate on the main thing. And for them and for us, the main thing is still the season and how well we can do, how far we can go. And if we go as far as you know, we think we can go, you’re still being seen by, you know, by franchises in the WNBA, and that’s most important.”

What have you seen out of MiLaysia’s response to the losses?

“Playing her best basketball. It’s come together for her. She’s a young talent that has incredible like, she’s a competitor. Like, losses really bring out something. Just a more focused (person); she’s more efficient. She’s getting layups, like she’s not settling for just taking threes. She’s actually attacking the basket to make layups. And I do think that that’s something that we’ve talked about for a long time, like, nobody can stop… your speed is your superpower, like it is. And I think I told a couple weeks ago like she’s leaving six to eight points out there just in layups. She’s getting them now, she’s taking them. Joyce has built her scoring average on making layups. If you just make layups, you can easily score in double figures, easily in our game, but that’s hard to do. It takes a real disciplined person to focus and concentrate on them. You got bodies around you to put the ball in the hole, but we’ve got two of the best that’s doing it. Like, right now, consistent basis. Feagin always makes her layups like Breezy and when she gets there she makes her layup so I think it’s going to be contagious to where we can continue to control the paint.”

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