South Carolina women's basketball: Dawn Staley wanted better rebounding against Georgia, did she get it?
Dawn Staley had one assignment for the Gamecocks against Georgia: rebound the basketball. After spending the better part of the last three weeks getting pushed around on the glass, it was the most important thing she wanted to see heading into Sunday’s rematch at Texas.
How did the Gamecocks respond?
“I think we did a better job at boxing out,” Staley said. “I thought we did a better job at just scrapping. If you could not get it, hit it out. Chloe (Kitts) was great. Sania (Feagin) was great. I thought Tessa (Johnson) got in there and was just scrappy. So, we will need every bit of that as we move forward.”
That’s certainly what the box score says. South Carolina outrebounded Georgia 47-28, allowing the second-fewest rebounds in SEC play this season. Despite shooting just 30.2%, Georgia only got seven offensive rebounds.
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“I feel like we did good,” said Feagin, who grabbed a team-high nine rebounds. “She emphasized boxing out and getting more rebounds and I feel like we did that.”
Staley has emphasized what she calls gang rebounding. It’s not up to the forwards alone to box out and rebound, the guards have to help crash the boards. That’s why she was happy to see Raven Johnson grab six rebounds, MiLaysia Fulwiley grab five, and Tessa Johnson grab three.
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“The last couple practices she’s been emphasizing boxing out because she knew that when the posts boxed out, the guards would get the rebounds tonight,” said Kitts, who had seven rebounds. “It was collective good rebounding. We definitely got better but we still need to improve.”
Kitts was obviously referring to Texas, who rebounds much better than Georgia. Texas outrebounded South Carolina by four in the first meeting, including 20 offensive rebounds. Those offensive rebounds were the only thing keeping the Longhorns, who shot 27.8%, even remotely in that game.
Texas is certainly hoping to shoot better with a home crowd behind it, while still controlling the boards. South Carolina is hoping it has rediscovered its rebounding prowess.
