Everything Dawn Staley said previewing South Carolina's upcoming game against Texas
South Carolina head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media on Friday to preview the team’s marquee matchup against No. 5 Texas. Here’s everything she had to say.
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On the biggest thing South Carolina needs to stop
“I mean, their ability to control the paint. Their bigs are good; their guards are good. In (Texas head coach) Vic (Schaefer)‘s heyday here in the SEC, he controlled the paint – and it’s not going to change. You can win a lot of basketball games when you win the paint, so we got to win that battle. And then rebounding – rebounding is going to be key for us.”
On players with profiles similar to that of Madison Booker
“She’s tough… Seimone Augustus. Her (Madison Booker) three ball is better than Seimone’s, but her mid-range… ‘Mone was money from mid-range.”
On how to slow down Booker
“You got to make it difficult for her to catch. She’s in great shape, as well – a lot better shape than she was last year. I think she’s just understanding college and the whole dynamics of your body. It’s hard – just make it real hard before the catch because, when she catches it, you’re at her mercy.”
On whether South Carolina will defend Booker similarly to how they defended Caitlin Clark
“No, no, no – Caitlin (Clark)‘s a different guard. She’s a totally different guard. I think, with Texas, they like fluidity and cadence. They like ball reversals. And that’s the nature of being good on offense – when you can have multiple people touch the ball, and you reverse the ball, it increases your shooting percentage. So, we got to disrupt that somehow, someway. I think we did a really good job yesterday with that, so we just need another performance like that.”
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[USC-Texas WBB: Win tickets, parking]
On South Carolina’s habits ahead of five-game stretch against ranked opponents
“I think that the habit of defending is one of our stronger points. The habit of sharing the basketball and moving the ball has become a habit. Our ability to rebound has been inconsistent. Our box-out has been inconsistent. That’s what we got to get better at – we got to clean up some of those extra opportunities that we’re giving teams. And I think, over the past probably two or three games, we’ve really concentrated on that, but we’re certainly are going to be pushed to the limit with Texas.”
On South Carolina players who have not been talked about enough
“I mean, we’ve been spreading the wealth around. I hope we’re able to talk about Adhel (Tac), Sakima (Walker) and Maryam (Dauda) – that headline of them giving us something.”
On Maddy McDaniel’s status
“Maddy (McDaniel)‘s good. Maddy’s ready. Maddy’s in practice today.”
On Walker’s performance against Texas A&M
“Kima’s fearless. Kima is a relentless defender. I know we don’t see her offensive skillset a whole lot, but she can score – she really can score. She needs more time. She needs more actual game time in order for her to do that. When you’re playing with so many great players who have years of service under us, it’s hard to break into that. But one of them’s out of the way now – it’s time for her to step up. I believe in her – I really do believe in in the three of them. We just got to put them in the right situation.”
