The Gamecocks have a target on their backs. Always. Since Dawn Staley took over as the program’s head coach in 2008, the team has finished atop the SEC nine times and won three NCAA tournament championships. Everyone wants to beat South Carolina, especially when the season is almost over and teams are looking for a statement win against the top team in their conference.
Dawn Staley, for one, doesn’t believe that getting teams’ best shots is the challenge it appears to be.
“It’s the same exact role where we’ve been the top team in this league and taking on everybody’s best,” Staley said after a decisive win over Tennessee. “I’m hoping it works adversely for our opponents. Like they play so hard that it gets them out of whack. And I hope we just stay calm with just dealing with the wave of pressure—just normal pressure. It’s the normal pressure of being at the top of our conference, being a team that’s won a national championship. We get people’s best. So, I hope at some point it backfires on them.”
South Carolina is such a strong team, that opponents sometimes go out of their way to try to slow it down instead of just doing what they know works for them. Playing extra hard can also cause players to rush and make mistakes they wouldn’t usually make.
South Carolina sits on top of the SEC standings once again
SEC play can be a real bloodbath. Nine of the sixteen teams in the conference are ranked, including four of the top-ten teams in the country. South Carolina leads that elite group with a 10-1 record.
The Gamecocks only lost one SEC game, falling to Oklahoma in a 94-82 overtime loss in January. They beat everyone else, including Texas, Vanderbilt, and Tennessee.
They also only lost one other game all season long. In late November, Texas secured a 66-64 win.
With only five games left in the season, the Gamecocks’ chances of finishing conference play with an almost flawless record are solid. LSU, their next opponent and the fifth-ranked team in the country, will pose a serious challenge, and Alabama, Ole Miss, and Kentucky also shouldn’t be underestimated. But, South Carolina has proven that it can beat the best teams in the country and dictate games against ranked opponents.
Moreover, South Carolina has experience on the sidelines and on the court. Staley knows how to get the best out of her teams, and Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson have won championships with the team. Johnson, who was actually around for two championships, is in her fifth season. That experience is invaluable at the point guard spot.