Dawn Staley’s Comments Following South Carolina’s Victory Over Vanderbilt

In a post-game media session following South Carolina’s 82-65 victory over the Vanderbilt Commodores on Sunday, Dawn Staley shared her thoughts on various aspects of the game.

On Joyce Edwards stepping up in the third quarter, Staley emphasized her importance to the team: “Joyce is a difference maker. Coming off the bench, her offensive and defensive firepower, along with her competitiveness, makes her a really good player that we’re lucky to have. She’s finding her spots in the game where she can truly be effective, and running the floor is one of them.”

When asked about Mikayla Blakes and her impact defensively, Staley didn’t hold back, praising Blakes’ offensive efficiency: “She’s special. To come in our league and do what she’s done, I don’t know if there’s a bigger offensive impact. She’s very, very efficient, and that’s what we try to do—we try to make her as inefficient as possible. We knew she’d score points, but we wanted to make it difficult for her to do so. We made her defend, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that.”

Reflecting on halftime adjustments, Staley clarified: “We really didn’t make any adjustments. What we did was make layups. We didn’t make as many in the second half as we did in the first, but I thought we made multiple efforts on rebounding and defense.”

On the team’s transition play, she added: “This league will eat you up if you turn the ball over. We turned it over trying to throw it back at them under their basket, and they got seven points from that in the first half. We need to clean that up, but I thought we did a good job not giving them easy buckets.”

Discussing MiLaysia Fulwiley‘s development, Staley spoke about preparing her for the pro level: “I think MiLaysia is a pro. We’re just giving her the tools to operate in that space because it’s not just one way—you have to be multifaceted at that elite level. She’s got the talent, but we’re adding to what she’s already brought to us, because if she wants to be a pro, there are things we need to add. We’re not taking anything away from her; we’re just adding more.”

Staley also gave credit to Shea Ralph for her work at Vanderbilt: “She’s done great. It’s about talent, and we all know Shea can coach. Now, it’s about getting the right players, and Blakes and Pierre are the cornerstones of their future. I think people are going to want to play with them. I truly believe Shea will get Vanderbilt to the tournament. She might not have the results yet, but her body of work shows that she should be a part of the 68 teams.”

Finally, reflecting on what it takes to build a program to championship level, Staley noted: “It’s about talent, culture, chemistry, and getting your kids to believe. I don’t think they lack belief at all. To win a national championship, it takes more than a few players; it takes eight or nine players understanding and thriving in their roles and blocking out distractions.”