Dawn Staley’s Honest Take on Texas Loss Shows What South Carolina Really Learned
The No. 3-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the 2025-26 season when they came up short against the Texas Longhorns (who are now ranked No. 2) by a score of 66-64 on November 27.
Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley isn't used to losing in the regular season. In fact, her team went undefeated just two seasons ago. But she showed that she wasn't too perturbed by her squad's loss to Texas when speaking with the media after the game, saying, “This was a great game, great SEC game, for us to learn what we need to do in order for us to win games like this. I’m not upset at all at this game," per an article from Griffin Goodwyn of On3 Sports.
"This is going to help us because there are a lot of things to unpack in it. We played some players that needed to get experience in big-time games. And then, I think we found someone that could. We’re a little more comfortable with putting Adhel Tac in the game. She gave us valuable minutes. I like her energy and effort out there, and I like her rebounding," Staley added.
Dawn Staley Expands on South Carolina's Learning Lessons After Texas Loss
Staley has now had a few days to reflect on her team's performance against Texas. And she spoke at length about what her squad learned from that defeat on December 3, after a practice to prepare for the No. 22-ranked Louisville Cardinals.
"Free throws. Free throw box out. Inability to take away someone's strength, right?" Staley said about the major takeaways from the Texas loss, per an X post from Matt Dowell. "I thought we did a good job; their top three scorers were inefficient, so we did our job with that. They just had key buckets at crucial times in the game.
"Then the fouling. The fouling really put us back on our heels. But it's not anything for us to just be like the sky's falling... And our team is still just trying to find each other. This isn't a team that we've had for years," Staley added. "Our defense has got to get better. Just defensive breakdowns. All stuff that you can point to and just say, 'Hey, you can't be really upset.'
"Because it wasn't effort; It was more of just execution, and what we needed to be executed. Which, for us, is a norm, but it's not a norm for this team because we're finding our identity," she concluded.
Dawn Staley on the major takeaways from @GamecockWBB's loss to Texas:
— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) December 3, 2025
"Free throws. Free throw box out. Inability to take away someone's strength... It's not anything for us to just be like the sky's falling." pic.twitter.com/u9CD8kfThT
The Gamecocks clearly learned what needs work as they're to remain national championship contenders this season. And one would imagine they'll start to utilize these lessons against Louisville on Thursday.
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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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