Dawn Staley downplays heightened excitement ahead of UConn matchup

In a live report from Columbia, South Carolina, Head Coach Dawn Staley made it clear that the Gamecocks haven’t been looking past their current opponents, despite the upcoming highly anticipated matchup with No. 7 UConn this Sunday.

Asked about the looming contest, Staley shared her thoughts postgame on Thursday. Despite the excitement surrounding the clash with the Huskies, she emphasized that her team has stayed focused on the present. “No,” Staley replied when asked if her team was looking ahead. “I mean, I think this team stays in the moment. I know they know we play UConn on Sunday. You can’t — you can’t get around it.”

South Carolina and UConn, two heavyweights in women’s college basketball, have met 13 times during Staley’s tenure. UConn holds a slight advantage with an 8-5 series lead, but the Gamecocks have been dominant in recent years, boasting a 5-1 record against the Huskies since 2020. Most of these matchups have taken place in the regular season, with two coming later in postseason play. In the 2018 season, UConn defeated South Carolina twice, including a blowout in the Elite Eight. However, in 2021 and 2022, the Gamecocks turned the tide, with two double-digit victories, including one in the NCAA National Championship game.

But this season, both teams have faced setbacks. UConn suffered a tough road loss at Tennessee last week, falling 80-76 for their third loss of the season. Meanwhile, South Carolina responded to their own second defeat of the season, a loss to Texas, with a dominant 38-point win over Florida just days ago.

Staley acknowledged the challenge of balancing the Florida game with the looming UConn contest. “Like, it almost – we didn’t skip over this game but, you know, a lot of people have just moved on to, like, UConn,” she said. “This league is unforgiving. Like, we didn’t take Florida lightly. Florida scores a lot of points, and we were very mindful of that. We wanted to make sure that they aren’t scoring 80 and 90 points like they have against some other teams.”

As Sunday approaches, all eyes will be on Columbia, where the Gamecocks and Huskies will clash. One team will emerge from the contest without a second loss in February, setting the stage for an epic showdown.