South Carolina rules the roost
STALEY GUIDES GAMECOCKS TO 1ST TITLE
South Carolina’s A’ja Wilson, right, and Allisha Gray celebrate after defeating Mississippi State, 67-55, Sunday in Dallas to win the school’s first National Championship. Wilson was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.
DALLAS For all of her accomplishments in a Hall of Fame playing career, there was one title that eluded Dawn Staley. For 26 years, she has lived with the regret that she never won an NCAA title. Finally, Staley’s trophy collection is complete. Staley coached the University of South Carolina to its first women’s basketball national title Sunday with a 67-55 win against Mississippi State. The victory was fueled by a 23-point, 10-rebound performance from Gamecocks junior forward A’ja Wilson, who was named the Final Four’s Most Outstanding Player.
“This team has played with so much heart and played through so much adversity,” Wilson said, referring to the loss of star center Alaina Coates to a season-ending knee injury during the Southeastern Conference tournament.
The title was the culmination of the Gamecocks’ climb under Staley, who was hired in 2008. South Carolina first became an SEC power, then advanced to its first Final Four two years ago. Staley, who won three Olympic gold medals with
Team USA and was a six-time WNBA All-Star, built a program attractive enough to land elite recruits the likes of Wilson, the No. 1 player in the 2014 class, and top transfers such as guard Kaela Davis, who came from Georgia Tech for the chance to compete for a national title.
“Those are the guys that really believed in our vision,” Staley said. “And ... that vision was: We will be national champions if you stick with us, if you’re disciplined, if you believe and are willing to work hard. And all our players believed in that.”
Staley’s team trailed for the first five minutes Sunday at American Airlines Center but dominated the rest of the game. The Gamecocks made 45.5% of their shots, all while not making a single three-point shot (0-for-3). They didn’t even try a threepointer until late in the first half.
South Carolina’s game plan was clear. The Gamecocks were going to win by being aggressive in the paint. South Carolina dictated the game with its up-tempo offense and worked the ball around the court and under the basket to Wilson.
Wilson scored on a put-back with 1:40 left to essentially seal the win.
The Bulldogs rallied late in the third quarter and cut their deficit to four points after a steal and a layup by guard Morgan William and free throws by center Teaira McCowan, but Davis hit a jump shot at the buzzer for a 52-44 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The loss ended an impressive run for the No. 2-seeded Bulldogs, who knocked off No. 1 seed Baylor in the Elite Eight and ended Connecticut’s 111-game winning streak Friday with a 66-64 overtime win in the Final Four on William’s buzzer-beater.
Bulldogs coach Vic Schaefer said he thought his team was half a step slow throughout the game and that it felt like the Bulldogs were sluggish after their epic win against UConn that ended about midnight Friday.
“We’ve been playing catch-up,” he said. “Some kids just didn’t have the energy level we needed.”