"That is our nemesis": Dawn Staley reflects on "lapses" in UCLA game after destroying Iowa State by 40 points
After a gut-wrenching 77-62 loss to UCLA, Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks came back with a 40-point beatdown of Iowa State, 76-36, on Thursday. The win sees South Carolina improve to 6-1 early in the 2024-2025 season.
During the postgame presser, Dawn Staley shared her thoughts on why her team underperformed in the loss they suffered last Sunday against the Bruins. (Start at 1:09)
"We just needed to put a complete game together. Obviously, there were some lapses in the UCLA game that weren't characteristic of us. So, we wanted to make sure that we played very similarly to our rotations and how we would guard their big," she explained.
The big in question is UCLA stalwart Lauren Betts, who notched a double-double of 11 points and 14 rebounds against the Gamecocks. Staley further talked about what her team should have done right against the center in the aforementioned game. (Start at 1:31)
"You have to pay a lot of attention to her (Betts). It can't just be one player. It has to be positions and you have to position yourself to help if the ball got into it...All of these things we executed from our two days of preparation...If we could put together 40 minutes of what we did defensively (and) offensively in the same game, I think we'd be feeling really good about ourselves," Staley added.
Stacey believes the biggest hurdle that her Gamecocks face is making too many mistakes on both ends of the court.
"That is our nemesis; to be able to lock in on both sides of the ball, not have as many lapses or put them onto the free throw line as much as we did."
South Carolina responded to the loss on Thursday by playing a suffocating defense coupled with a fluid offense that led them to the 76-36 triumph over the Iowa State Cyclones.
In the first half, they had a game-altering 32-0 run that they never looked back from, as they led 35-9 by halftime.
Adjustments are how Dawn Staley keeps her team's intensity up
Continuing with the press conference, Dawn Staley was asked about how she sustains her team's energy to defend the right way and find good shots to take, to which she replied (Start at 3:32):
"You got to make adjustments. We had to make adjustments," she answered. "There was a stretch in the second quarter where they called us for a couple of touch fouls. We had to adjust...
"It actually starts on our offensive end. If we could take expected shots, our defense can get set up and not have imbalance. Once we have imbalance, it's easier to score on us and that happens from what type of shot we take on the other end," Staley detailed.
Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks now have the opportunity to maintain their intensity and shift the momentum back to them as they will have the Purdue Boilermakers next up on Saturday, Nov. 30.