South Carolina Gamecocks guard Raven Johnson recently shared what her team’s practices look like under legendary coach Dawn Staley. On Thursday, Feb. 5, Johnson and the rest of coach Staley’s Gamecocks defeated Sam Purcell’s Mississippi State Bulldogs 88-45 on the former’s home floor, the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
During her post-game interview on the court, as seen in a video posted by @SECNetwork on X/Twitter, Johnson was asked what Staley’s halftime speeches and pep talks were like in the locker room. Johnson talked about how strict Staley is even during practices, apart from halftime meetings.
“ Oh, it’s started in practice. Let me tell you about practice. I mean, practice is hard. Our practices are harder than games, and she screams at us. I mean sometimes you got to, it’s tough love, honestly. I mean, sometimes people cry, sometimes people get down on themselves. But at the end of the day, she wanna win, and I think all of us wanna win. So, it’s just what she wants at the end of the day, and she wants us to be better,” Johnson shared.
“And it’s getting close to March, you know, so these are times where you get better and these are the times where, you know, room for marking the errors are really little,” she continued.
Johnson is currently in her fifth and final year of college basketball in the 2025-26 campaign with the South Carolina-based program. She has spent all five seasons of her collegiate tenure under Staley, which is why she is one of the select few who can truly detail how Staley is as a mentor. Johnson was part of the Gamecocks squads that won the 2022 and the 2024 national championships.
The South Carolina Gamecocks Dominate The Mississippi State Bulldogs
It seems as though Dawn Staley’s halftime speeches work like a charm, as in the third quarter of the South Carolina Gamecocks-Mississippi State Bulldogs matchup, the Gamecocks outscored the Bulldogs by 24 points, 30-6.
Mississippi State failed to mount a comeback after this, as South Carolina defeated them by an astounding 43 points, 88-45.
Read More: “Can’t See Her Being An Elite Guard”: Fans React As Dawn Staley Drops Advice for WNBA Teams About Raven Johnson
Also Read: When Dawn Staley Explained Why Raven Johnson Needed to Be ‘More Selfish’ on the Court
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