Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks won their first-round game of the NCAA Tournament with extraordinary ease. They defeated the Southern Jaguars 103-34 on Saturday at home in Colonial Life Arena, Columbia.
The Gamecocks are the No. 1 seed of the Sacramento 4 Regional. They will advance to play with the winner of this afternoon’s game between Clemson and USC. South Carolina is by far the favorite to win its regional, and it has the fourth-best odds to win the national championship behind UConn, UCLA Bruins, and Texas Longhorns.
During the game, the veteran South Carolina coach was seen wearing a Gamecocks-inspired outfit that had her wearing white pants, a maroon sweater, and sneakers.
Joyce Edwards, Ta’Niya Latson, Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson, and Agot Makeer all scored 10 points or more, fueling the Gamecocks’ victory. Latson, with 29 points, was the team’s leading scorer, while Alicia Tournebize led the team in rebounds with 11. Latson was also the leader in assists with six.
Dawn Staley’s Message to Press Following 103-34 Victory Over Southern
The South Carolina coach made a comment right after this afternoon’s victory that was somewhere between a compliment and a veiled criticism. Immediately after the victory, she praised Southern’s game, while also pointing out their deficiencies:
“It was good to get the tournament started here on our home court. I thought Southern did a really good job of defending and doing the best that they can against our team. They are a well-coached basketball team on both sides of the basketball. I like to say, when we were in [Southern’s] position, we used to get out-talented. I thought they got out-talented tonight. Nothing against the effort that they put out there on the floor.
“Proud of Southern. They should be proud of the season that they had, and they should look forward to continuing to make noise when they play the power 4 teams and continued success in the NCAA Tournament.”
She went on to say that she believed that the team was somewhat rusty during the first half of the game, which was to be expected after several days without action, but that in the end the Gamecocks showed their true potential. It was clearly reflected in the final score.
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