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BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — It’s become almost a norm around this time in the calendar for Dawn Staley and top-seeded South Carolina to gather at midcourt and accept trophies for their accomplishments. Staley has made a habit out of celebrating Final Four berths and national championship victories with the South Carolina band, posing for photos after they’ve livened up the winning environments. A South Carolina team staffer has the Gamecocks’ net-cutting routine (and order) perfected to a science. Players sing as Queen’s “We Are the Champions” plays and dance when Mary J. Blige’s “Just Fine” is belted over the loudspeakers.On Sunday in Birmingham, the Gamecocks celebrated another Final Four berth, their fifth in five years. Most everything felt like past celebrations … with two glaring exceptions. The first is this: Thirty minutes after the final buzzer sounded on South Carolina’s 54-50 win over second-seeded Duke, Staley signed a baby’s bottom, scribbling her name on a pair of white sweatpants that immediately became a one-of-a-kind collector’s item.
“That was a first,” Staley said. “My hand was shaking.”
The other exception to South Carolina’s winning routine is more serious: For the third consecutive game, the Gamecocks lacked the usual crispness. Against Indiana in the Round of 32 and Maryland in the Sweet 16, South Carolina trailed at halftime. Against the Terrapins and Duke, the Gamecocks trailed late in the second half, mustering every ounce of energy and focus to prevail over an inferior opponent.
Yet again, the Gamecocks seemed like they were playing with fire. Yet again, they escaped and felt the joy of victory. The Gamecocks left Legacy Arena holding onto feelings of comfort in knowing their season will continue in Tampa, Fla., the site of this year’s Final Four. But they seemingly came to another realization.
“I mean, at this point, it’s not going to look pretty. OK?” Staley said. “It’s not. There are stretches in each game that (are) not going to look pretty.”
After defeating Maryland on Friday afternoon, freshman star Joyce Edwards said she felt relief that South Carolina had advanced. On Sunday?
“The relief was more relieved,” she said. “But we’re on to the next, and that’s all that matters.”
That’s true, of course. By the end of Monday night, only four teams will remain in the NCAA Tournament. Survive and advance. Win at all costs. Throw out any March cliché you want; they likely apply to this Gamecocks team. In the locker room afterward, Staley told players she was proud of them but that the job was unfinished.
The path of this season’s South Carolina has lacked the aesthetics of past years. Last season en route to a national championship, the Gamecocks entered the Final Four undefeated with only six single-digit games in the lead-up to the national semifinal. They were anchored on both ends by star Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 center who stifled opponent drives and bailed out stagnant offensive possessions. On this year’s team, there is no break-in-case-of-emergency fallback.
At times, sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley has looked like that player. She scored 23 points in 21 minutes against the Terps. But on Sunday? She had five points and three travels.
Seniors Sania Feagin, Te-Hina Paopao and Bree Hall have emerged in key junctures, too. Paopao was critical in the second half on Sunday as South Carolina flipped a six-point third-quarter deficit into a four-point lead early in the fourth quarter. But there are also moments when the Gamecocks coaching staff can be seen imploring their veterans to be more aggressive or to break South Carolina out of its stagnation, to no avail.
Junior forward Chloe Kitts led the Gamecocks with 14 points and was the focal point of South Carolina’s final offensive possession, but she is still growing into her role as a go-to player.
“This regional has definitely tested us,” Paopao said. It wasn’t decided until a potential go-ahead 3-pointer by Duke’s Ashlon Jackson came up short with less than 10 seconds to play.
In 2022, another national championship-winning season, South Carolina stormed through its competition. Its two losses came by a combined three points, with one of them in overtime and another on a buzzer beater. The Gamecocks won each of their NCAA Tournament games by double digits and shot only 36.7 percent in the title game against UConn, yet still won by 15 points.
In 2017, the Gamecocks’ first title-winning year, they lost two of their final five regular-season games but regained their mojo in March. They won each of their SEC and NCAA tournament games by at least seven points.
Staley admitted Friday that South Carolina didn’t look like a dominant championship team. She seems to have accepted that if they are going to emerge victorious yet again next week and repeat as champions, they’ll do so after putting style points aside.
“Some of it’s not going to look as smoothly as us coaches and players envision or how you practice, but you certainly have to get down and play the kind of game that’s presented in front of you, and we’ll do that,” she said. “It is that type of year that for us there’s not any blowouts. We have to grind for every single win that we can get and manufacture.”
Against the Blue Devils, the list of things that South Carolina needs to clean up before Friday grew longer. The Gamecocks were outrebounded 41-30 and allowed Duke to attempt 16 more shots. South Carolina had 10 turnovers in the first half and another scoring drought that lasted more than six minutes. Paopao said Duke’s pressure helped disrupt South Carolina’s offensive flow.
And yet?
“Sometimes you gotta be tested — hold up or fold up — and we held up,” Paopao said. “I’m just really proud of our team…This regional is very tough for us, but we got Tampa and we just gotta take one game at a time.”
The Gamecocks surely will. They aren’t playing well enough to look past any opponent. Paopao was another of the South Carolina players who used “relief” after beating Maryland. After beating Duke, she said she was “excited,” explaining, “just because we’re still dancing, and I’m just super proud of my team.”
The opportunity for future net-cutting awaits. But will Staley come face-to-face with another baby to sign in celebration, or will tears flow not because of joy but in times of disappointment?
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
South Carolina Gamecocks, Women's College Basketball, Women's NCAA Tournament
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