Dawn Staley Admits Why She's Shaken After South Carolina Loss vs. Texas
Dawn Staley isn't used to her team losing two games in a season.
One season ago, the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team produced a perfect 38-0 record, which culminated with them winning the 2024 NCAA National Championship. The season prior, Staley's Gamecocks squad carried a perfect 36-0 record to the Final Four before their season ended after getting bested by Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes.
But now South Carolina has already lost twice in the 2024-25 NCAA season after coming up short against the Texas Longhorns on February 9.
Staley was reflective on how she's feeling about this defeat when speaking with the media after a February 12 practice.
"It shakes you a little bit because it's so unfamiliar. So you think about where you need to improve" Staley said, per an X post from Matt Dowell of WACH Fox. "Most times when we've lost, it's more like an anomaly. Like 'What the heck?' That wasn't us. That wasn't our defense, that wasn't our offense. More times than not, it was the opponent that did something to us.
"And then some of it is self-inflicted, as well," Staley added. "So we've got to figure out what's self-inflicted, what the opponent forced us to do, what's the anomaly of it, and then try to fix it all at once.
"I think for us, we just need to get confident in doing things the way we need to do things," she concluded.
The standard for @GamecockWBB is so high that when they lose, it sends shockwaves through the sport.
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 12, 2025
Dawn Staley on how they deal with Sunday's loss internally:
"It shakes you a little bit 'cause it's so unfamiliar. You think about where you need to improve."@wachfox pic.twitter.com/Ka8Ih8uOz6
It will be interesting to see how South Carolina gets back in a groove against the Florida Gators on February 13.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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