South Carolina women's basketball: Sunday's loss is fuel for next season

A losing locker room is not a fun place to be. A losing Final Four locker room is even less fun. And a losing championship game locker room – you get the point.

That was the South Carolina locker room on Sunday evening. Some of the players had to be coaxed out of hiding, but they all did their best to answer every question.

Sania Feagin could barely speak through tears. Te-Hina Paopao had a bittersweet smile. Raven Johnson avoided the media for several minutes while she composed herself – barely.

Chloe Kitts and Tessa Johnson were hoarse, apparently from crying. MiLaysia Fulwiley tried to fight back tears when she talked about what the seniors meant to her.

Bree Hall was at the podium, and she said being forced to speak in the comparatively sterile interview room made things easier.

“I’m glad I came up here and could do this presser because I’m just not as upset as you would think I would be,” she said. “I’m so appreciative of everything that this program has done for me.”

The last two Gamecock teams, the Daycare, were defined – for better or worse – by their supposed immaturity. But they weren’t silly kids Sunday evening, they handled the loss as mature young women.

And that’s the way Dawn Staley wanted it.

“I hope they’re crying,” she said. “I hope they’re boo-hooing because from crying, they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason. Makes you look at it and really analyze what the separation is from their program and our program and how we close the gap with that. They’re very talented and I think they got a great experience of playing at this level that I hope they have a desire to get back here and do all the things it takes to play in the national championship game and to deliver the blows that’s needed to win.”

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Before the press conference and the open locker room, there is what the NCAA calls a “cooling off period.” What was shared during that period was kept private, as it probably should be, but there is always an informal passing of the torch from the departing seniors to the rising underclassmen.

In Dallas in 2023, Hall defiantly told me that she would become a leader the next season and make sure they didn’t experience that anguish again. Indeed, she became a starter and led South Carolina to an undefeated season and a national runner-up finish.

This year, it was players like Fulwiley, Tessa Johnson, and Joyce Edwards who were in Hall’s shoes. Edwards was named to the all-tournament team, but Staley wanted Edwards to remember the pain.

“I let her sit in her sadness,” Staley said. “Sometimes, letting them sit in their sadness is much more powerful than breaking that train of thought. But we’ll talk about it. And she’ll express how she feels and what she needs to work on in order for her to get us back to this place.”

The Gamecocks don’t lose very often. Hall, Feagin, and Raven Johnson never missed a Final Four, only lost one game in the SEC tournament, and had an undefeated season. 

Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson didn’t lose a game until their second season. I was there in Westwood when it happened, and they seemed almost confused by the loss.

That was a bit of charming naivete. Sunday’s loss was a hard truth. There were too many mistakes – missed layups, blown assignments, turnovers. They had overcome sloppy play all season, really for two seasons, but not anymore. Now the younger Gamecocks have a mission.

“This game, I know what it feels like to lose,” Edwards said, “and I don’t want to be here again.”

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