Women’s College Hoops Spotlight: Dawn Staley, South Carolina Embrace Villain Role

The sweatshirt South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley wore during the Gamecocks’ 79-72 win over LSU on Valentine’s Day had a very specific meaning. Staley and her staff donned white hoodies with the word “Boo” in big, bold garnet letters across the front — a nod to the last time the Gamecocks faced the Tigers in Baton Rouge, when the home crowd showered them with boos. That meeting, a 76-70 South Carolina win on Jan. 25, 2024, came with plenty of noise. Afterward, when asked about the reception, Staley smiled. “Actually they were calling me boo,” she joked. Ahead of this year’s road matchup, the Gamecocks decided to lean into it. “We were just trying to figure out what to wear,” Staley said after the game. “Our staff wanted to wear white and somebody else brought up, ‘Let’s do the ‘Boo’ hoodies.’ “And everybody stayed in character because I heard a lot of boos again.” With the win, No. 3 South Carolina earned its 18th consecutive victory over No. 6 LSU. It also marked Staley’s 500th career win with the Gamecocks, a program she has coached since 2008. South Carolina junior guard Tessa Johnson went 4-for-5 from 3 and scored 21 points, while senior guard Raven Johnson added 19 points, seven rebounds, six assists, four steals and a block. The two veterans played nearly the entire game. “They’re built for it,” Staley said. “They were exhausted, but they got us over the mountain top.” [NCAA: Women’s College Basketball Top 10, Bubble Team NET Rankings] South Carolina led 73-70 with just shy of two minutes to play. LSU senior guard Flau’jae Johnson hit a 20-foot jumper to put the Tigers within one point but missed two free throws with 45 seconds left, and South Carolina finished the game on a 6-0 run. The game was certainly within LSU’s grasp — the Tigers led by five after the first quarter and out-rebounded South Carolina, 46-37, including 18-11 on the offensive boards. But Kim Mulkey’s team failed to execute down the stretch, missing layups and free throws. The Tigers only shot 61% from the free throw line. Johnson scored 21 points for the Tigers and added eight rebounds, one steal and a block. She was emotional after the game, explaining later that she was thinking about those final two missed free throws. [MEN’S COLLEGE HOOPS SPOTLIGHT: 7 Teams Eyeing No. 1 Tournament Seeds] This was also a reunion for former Gamecock MiLaysia Fulwiley, who now plays for LSU. She had six points, four rebounds, and four of the team’s five steals in 23 minutes on the court. With eight SEC teams in the Associated Press women’s basketball Top 25 poll, it seems like every conference matchup comes down to the final moments. It took everything the Gamecocks had to finish strong. “It’s like that,” Staley said. “It was two of the best teams in the conference, in the country, just trying to get a win. I mean, we all said it’s probably gonna be determined in those plays. I thought LSU got multiple offensive rebounds at the end of the game to put them in position to close the gap, to go ahead. “And then, at the end, we got lucky — Flau’jae doesn’t miss free throws. And we actually got a bucket after that, and it’s those kinds of plays that are determining games.”