Everything South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the loss against Texas

Following a 66-62 loss to Texas on Sunday, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media. Here is everything she said.

Dawn, you have been to a ton of incredible basketball venues. I just wanted your thoughts on Moody Center as a venue and the atmosphere today.

“It was a great atmosphere with great music and loud cheers. It was great for women’s basketball. Probably great for TV. Close game and great for our game. It was just unfortunate somebody had to lose and it is fortunate that they won.”

Dawn, the four guard line up in the fourth. What was the decision going into that and Texas’ height?

“We needed Breezy (Hall) on (Madison) Booker for as long as we could stay matched up on her. So, we thought we needed to go to a small lineup, they were pretty small. We just weren’t getting anything from our bigs. We weren’t getting a whole lot of rebounding and not really a whole lot of scoring where we felt like we can get the advantage. They did a really great job at covering up and being disruptive and forcing us out of our spots. It was a really good defensive game.”

[Join GamecockCentral: $1 for 7 days]

Chloe (Kitts) and Joyce (Edwards) didn’t play in the fourth quarter, was there a thought to put them back in or was it Sania the whole way in that four-guard lineup? 

“Sania (Feagin), was the only one that could guard her. We gave up too much when Chloe (Kitts) or Joyce (Edwards) are on her. We could have tried Adhel (Tac), they just aren’t experienced enough. I mean, she is a very experienced post player that I thought she brought it all home for them.”

Dawn, you can’t expect Madison Booker to have another tough day shooting like she did at your place. Did you tell them that?

“Yeah, I mean all of them had a bad shooting night. We weren’t anticipating any of them having a bad shooting night. (Madison) Booker’s a great player. She got to her spot and did a great job rebounding. She was a beast on the board. She got a really crucial rebound in the fourth quarter where we got the stop. We just had to switch, Breezy (Hall) wasn’t on her, smaller guard on her, and she took advantage of it and they scored. I thought it was a well-coached game on both sides of the ball and I think they out-toughed us on three out of the four quarters.’

What did you think of (Kyla) Oldacre’s performance for Texas? 

“We had nobody to stop her. Both sides of the ball, she was very active. Defensively there is not much we can do with that when she’s got two feet in the paint and she is that deep.”

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

I was going to ask about (Kyla) Oldacre, Texas went with her the whole fourth quarter which is something they have not done. What are your thoughts?

“I would too. I thought their other bigs got them to a great place in the game and then they use (Kyla) Oldacre to finish us. She did a great job. She came through for them time and time again like crucial baskets.”

Towards the second half it was a lot of Brianna Preston, what did you see out of the true freshman from Texas?

“She did a great job. I thought we would see her a little more because she came in and gave them a big boost. A little bit more earlier because she came in later in the basketball game. She did enough to tire us out and disrupt the flow of our offense by not allowing our point guards to initiate our offense, so really great job.”

Coach, today is the biggest day in sports. Texas and South Carolina were chosen to be a lead into the Super Bowl. I know winning is always the most important, but can you talk about the impact that your team and Texas have had on women’s college sports? A lot of fans in the stands and millions around the world that saw this game. 

“Quite honestly, we are it right now. Women’s basketball is it right now. They are not going to put any women’s game on to be the prelude to the Super Bowl. They put it on because they knew the ratings would be there and that it was going to be a tightly matched-basketball game. I just hope that now people are seeing our game being showcased and that we will get the respect in all areas.”

After the UCLA loss, (Te-Hina) Paopao kind of described it as a bit of a wake-up call, do you similarly see this loss or do you treat each loss individually in terms of impact?

“We fought in this particular game. There is definitely some things we can get better at. This type of game you are just trying to survive. You can’t really run your offenses. Players have to make plays at that point because you can design a play up and they can blow it up with their defense. They did that tonight. I mean, it is unfamiliar territory to us. This is our first game we lost in two years, I think, so the law of error just says at some point somebody’s gonna get you. I am just glad they didn’t get us where we can’t survive. We still control our own destiny. We do have to look around a little bit and hope somebody knocks Texas or LSU off, so we can control it the rest of the way. I am sure they are going to think the same thing with us as well.”

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

Coach, you have talked about (Kyla) Oldacre a lot, but Taylor Jones had a big day too. The two of them combined for 24 points. What did they do differently today and what kind of impact did they make?

“Well, they made baskets that’s one. Two, they utilized their height. I thought they played with a lot of aggression on both sides of the ball. I thought they were active rebounding the ball. They played like they wanted to play different than the time before. They played to win and you could see it.”

Coach, having your first conference loss to the conference newcomers. What does Texas bring to the SEC?

“Them and Oklahoma just make us not arguably the best conference in the country. We are. It is solidified with bringing them in. You got a top-five program and top 25 program come into a league that was already unforgiving. It is survival at this point. Anybody can beat anybody. It is tough down the stretch and I am looking forward to the end of the season and the SEC Tournament.”

How much of a difference do you see between your team and Texas?

“I think we are pretty balanced. We got what most people don’t have which is post depth. We have the ability to be versatile. We defend pretty good. They probably have the advantage on the rebounding, so we have to get better in that area. Great coaching and disciplined basketball team.”

Dawn, you described this game as one where you just have to survive and maybe not run as many offensive sets. Why? What was your thinking approaching it that way?

“They disrupted us. We worked on some things we could do to relieve the pressure, but it didn’t work. It is a lot easier when you are practicing and not in this environment when its loud and you can’t hear what the play call is. You have to improvise a little bit. I thought they did a better job at improvising and running their sets. We could not disrupt them as much as we disrupted them at our place, so they returned the favor.”

Win tickets to Senior Day, South Carolina-Kentucky women’s basketball game

Dawn, you guys outscored Texas 22-13 in the third quarter. Do you kind of chalk that up at halftime adjustments or better execution?

“I think we came out and did some things we wanted to do and in the fourth quarter we did it. They had a lot to do with it, they disrupted us. I think we had a smaller line up in that we probably don’t practice as much. We need to practice in these kind of situations. You know when you go with a smaller line up you are susceptible to rebounding and having a smaller guard on a big presence like (Madison) Booker. You put yourself in that situation, we got burned a few times and we will all have to eat that. That was part of the adjustment.”

Discuss South Carolina women’s basketball on The Insiders Forum!