Everything Dawn Staley said after South Carolina's blowout win over Oklahoma

Following a dominant 101-60 win over Oklahoma on Sunday, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley spoke to the media. Here’s everything she had to say.

Dawn, it maybe seemed like Oklahoma kind of maybe dared y’all to stay with them in transition, and maybe didn’t realize that that’s where you guys are best. Did you kind of see that from the bench, or is it just how the game developed?

“The thing is, when you’re really good at something, you’re probably not as as sharp with with defending it in this case and in transition. I mean, we wanted to play fast. We did. We wanted to get up and down the floor. We wanted to control the paint. We wanted to take rhythm threes. We want to just have a fluid offense.

“And then defensively, I mean, we knew they were going to score some in transition. We knew they were going to hit some threes. But over a 40 minute period, we wanted to make it really hard for them to get any rhythm, any fluid movements. And then we wanted to take care of (Raegan) Beers, and that’s a hard feat to do at all.

“I thought she was probably the hardest out that we’ve that we faced. It’s hard. She gets it into your body. There’s really nothing you could do. And she took advantage of us, and she got into a rhythm and started hitting shots from the outside. But I thought we took care of pretty much everyone else to allow us to just build the lead and hold on to it.”

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Can you talk about MiLaysia Fulwiley’s overall performance? Was that the best you’ve seen her play this year? What does that do for you when she’s on the level she was today?

“It’s been a steady climb since probably our Mississippi State game. It’s been a climb for Lay. Doesn’t mean that she’s not going to she’s not going to go back to a different place. That’s part of the process. It hasn’t happened in a couple of games, and that’s growth.

“I’m proud of her, because I asked her to be a little bit more disciplined, while giving her the freedom to do whatever she needs to do. But there are times in which I want to play her into games, but she and I both know that’s a trust thing. Like you’re asking me to play you in front of some seasoned vets that have been in the program a long time now.

“We do give up that, her ability to impact the game on both sides of the ball. We give up that. And it’s a gamble. But I like to know certain things at the end of basketball games, and she’s helping me, especially with this particular game, because I know she wanted to get off after the wild moment. She wanted to continue to best that wild moment. But she did it. She just played solid defense. She took really good shots. Probably the long threes are probably, she just wanted the dagger. You got to let her have that space as long as she’s playing defense. I’m really fine with it. You can take bad shots. Just defend.”

What was going through your head when (Fulwiley) took that shot at the end of the quarter? And was there something about Oklahoma’s pace, or what they were doing that you think kind of allowed her to play so well today?

I think it’s more Lay. I think Lay is being more intentional about making the right basketball play. So with that, I mean, after she didn’t go, when there’s like five seconds left, I knew she was going to take the three. I mean, she felt it. That wasn’t the first time that she’s done something like that, either. So it was just what we needed at the end of the quarter that kind of deflates you as a defense, and the building explodes. That is Gamecock basketball and Gamecock reaction to a big play.”

You guys had 53 bench points today. Seven times this season, you guys scored 50 points off the bench. You guys are riding this winning streak. What does that say about this team, and how much more confidence does it give you with how well they’re playing as a collective unit — bench, starters — all together?

“I have the utmost confidence in our team, all of them, really. I mean, six bigs is hard to rotate. Ashlyn is not here, so there’s some minutes to divide between them. But I’ve chosen to get Maryam (Dauda) ready. And I just told them that too, like I told Kima and Adhel, like, I mean, I chose her.

“It could have been any of them, but I’ve chosen Maryam, because I think Maryam gives us something different than the two of them. Her ability to shoot from the outside. She consistently boxes out and she’s unafraid defensively, like she’ll stick her nose in things. So I feel like she can give us something. We’re going to steadily try to get Adhel and Sakima in basketball games, because we know that at some point we’re going to need five or six bigs.

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“But I’m very confident with the entire roster. They have a way of playing well together. They prep. They prep extremely well. They are finding their footing. They want each other to play well. It speaks to the 26 assists on 39 field goals. It speaks to that. It speaks to Chloe giving the ball up to Raven. It speaks to that. It’s Lay turning the ball over, trying to get the ball to Adhel involved in the fourth quarter. It speaks to all of those things. So we’re just playing well. We’re defending extremely well, and our offense is starting to find and gain its footing.”

If you could just talk about the momentum you guys have been building in spite of the fact of losing Ashlyn Watkins, and how good that is, especially going into what on paper looked like could be one of the more challenging games?

“I think sometimes when you lose a player, you gain in other areas. Of course, we lose Ashlyn’s ability to shot block and Ashlyn’s ability to defend, her ability to rebound and score, and our ability to score, like in her presence, or her competitiveness, her outward, like getting our players to go to another level. Yes, we miss that.

“But then when you take that away, then you look at Joyce feels a lot more comfortable. She’s probably getting five of those minutes of Ashlyn, and you see her, it’s paying big dividends. Chloe is a little more relaxed. And Feagin is just up to her game.

“It isn’t anything besides comfort. I feel ike we didn’t present like we don’t have enough to continue to compete at a really high level. As a coaching staff, we never harp on it. Yes, we feel sorry for Ash and her not being with us. Do we have the utmost confidence in the people that are left? Absolutely.”

What is that like when you when your offense can come together like that? And what does that mean with momentum going forward?

“I’m gonna tell you what it means. It means we sacrifice. We sacrifice SEC Player of the Week. We sacrifice having a national play of the year candidate. We sacrifice possibly some All-American. But this team is really locked into the ultimate goal of just winning and doing it for each other. Because if you get to another Final Four, you get to a national championship game, they’re gonna find somebody on our team to give an All-American nod to. They have to.

“So we give that up, but for the greater good of winning and doing things that we need to do to get better as a team and doing things that that promotes great basketball. We want to be a great product of our game, so we could bring more eyeballs into it. Is it cool to have an All-American, a go-to player? Absolutely. And when you could do it without having one, you’re really moving the needle.”

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What does it kind of say when you see an assist to turnover ratio being in the plus 20s? And what does it say about kind of the way you guys move the ball and the risk aversion to not turn it over?

“I mean, obviously we didn’t go crazy off after having 22 against Texas and 15 against Alabama. It’s not really us, like it hasn’t been us. I think we average around 13 to 15. We’ve asked our players; one of the keys is to take care of the basketball. Just don’t play high risk, high reward basketball. Just let the ball find who should shoot it. Let the defense dictate who should receive the next pass. And they’re really taking heart to that, because this league is unforgiving, and if you give extra possessions, they’re gonna make you pay. And it is taxing on our defense to turn them all over and have to play the way we play defensively for 20 more possessions — that’s hard.”

First time for you guys this season scoring 100 points or more. What does it feel like for you as a coach to have Adhel be the one to get that and-one, blow the roof off the building, and a player who plays about five minutes a game puts you over that mark?

“I mean, it’s great for our fans. I think it’s a great moment for Adhel, because she’s had to sit and she’s had to be on the highlighter team for most of the Christmas break. And sometimes when the player doesn’t get as much playing time as the work they’re putting in, it can be deflating. It can lead to them being not as confident.

“But Adele is different. She’s smelling her flowers while she’s in the moment, the time that she’s getting. And that is a great character, player and person. Like she sees it. She trusts us. She trusts the process. And I know, although she looks a little raw today, she’s gonna be a great player for us. She’s gonna have a great career for us. To put it over the top and have our fans’ life when we score over 100 points. But just a happy moment for her and her fans.”

It seems like the most flawless performance you all have had so far. What do you take the most satisfaction in from today?

“Great basketball. Our kids gave it up. Our kids played hard every possession. They played hard. They played the way we envision. A lot of coaches have a vision of how they want their teams to play. That was it. I mean, yes, we gave up 60 points. Yes, we turned the ball over. Yes, Beers scores 23 points. But everything in between was like, really the heart of a champion on both sides of the basketball.”

Just a quick question about your new contract. You said you had no interest in coaching professional, but you had that clause in there that says you can leave without paying South Carolina anything. Why was it important for you to have that clause as part of this new contract?

“I don’t know. I might up and leave. No, I mean, you gotta have something to give and take. It was important for me to have a guaranteed contract — support. But then having a guaranteed contract, you got to give them something. I would never leave here to go take another college job. I have the best of the best here. And I really don’t have a passion for the next level. I don’t. I would have been gone. Like, seriously. So to have in there, it was just something fancy. I’m glad you asked me that question.”

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What has it been like to see Joyce Edwards develop into somewhat of a consistent leading scorer, not even 20 games into her career?

“I mean, you can see it. Joyce’s work ethic is unmatched. It’s borderline too much. She’s driven. She only knows one way. She works out after practice, and I know she’s in there with her dad in between. That’s just who she is. I wanted her not be in the gym so much. I do. But that’s her makeup.

“So if she’s going to be in the gym, I just had this conversation with her, then you got to take care of your body. You gotta go to the cold whirlpool. You have to take care of your body, because the pace that she works out and practices, it’s hard during the season. It’s really hard. I don’t think she really knows what a college season feels like. I know she knows halfway through the season, but it gets, your legs get heavier. It gets harder.

“Sometimes when you physically can’t do something, your mentals have to take over. Do I think she’s strong? Yes. But she hasn’t really been pushed to that point where she’s got to tap into her mentals. It’s going to happen this season. It’s going to happen at some point.

“So we just have to prepare her for just when that happens. And sometimes preparing her is probably not just lightening her load a little bit. Maryam’s ramping up. Adhel’s ramping up. Sakima’s ramping up. So we just have to be ready if that takes place.”

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