Dawn Staley shared her verdict on South Carolina after dramatically avoiding back-to-back losses with the Gamecocks’ two-point win over Louisville just days after falling to Texas
23:06 ET, 04 Dec 2025Updated 23:06 ET, 04 Dec 2025
Dawn Staley shared her verdict on South Carolina’s close win over Louisville(Image: Photo by Andrew Wevers/Players Era/Getty Images)
Dawn Staley applauded her team and shared her verdict on South Carolina’s fight to beat Louisville.
The Gamecocks came into the game against the Cardinals looking to avoid a two-game losing streak after losing just days prior to Texas. Despite a back-and-forth battle between the two, the Staley-led South Carolina squad eventually pulled out a 79-77 win in Louisville, showcasing its spirit.
That was not lost on Staley, who explained what she saw from her players in the tight contest. South Carolina’s bounce-back performance comes after the head coach called out one of the stars to be smarter with her decision-making.
READ MORE: Landon Donovan worried for Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and has bullish World Cup predictionREAD MORE: Missing high school coach wanted for grim crime may have had ‘associate willing to help’
Speaking to reporters after the win, Staley shared what she noticed about her team’s ability to bounce back, especially after a close loss to Texas just days prior. “Well, I mean, I learned that we do have some resiliency to see it through,” she said, according to On3.
“You know whether we won or lost this basketball game. It’s a great game. We took steps forward. Fortunately for us, we won the game. I think Madina [Okot] has to be in more situations like this to continue to rise to the challenge.
“I know she’ll probably spend a lot of time just beating herself up regarding free throws, the missed free throws and the missed layups, but I mean, you look in the stat sheet, she’s 10-for-16. She’s got 13 rebounds, like 23 points. And she probably doesn’t think she played well, but we don’t win if she’s not on our side.”
South Carolina escaped with a win over Louisville to avoid losing back-to-back games(Image: Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Four players scored in double figures for South Carolina, with Madina Okot and Tessa Johnson scoring 23 and 20 points, respectively, while Joyce Edwards and Raven Johnson added 12 and 11 points. Okot scored nine of her 23 points in the fourth quarter.
The win also helped the Gamecocks avoid losing back-to-back games for the first time since the end of the 2018-19 season, according to Greenville News. Of note, South Carolina played Raven Johnson, Tessa Johnson and Ta’Niya Latson 38 minutes each.
Staley admitted that some of the Gamecocks’ stars will have to play heavy minutes until South Carolina develops the bench “a little bit more.”
Get Peacock starting at $7.99
This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn more
$7.99
Peacock
Looking for more to watch? Peacock has hit shows, movies, live sports, and more. You can watch popular titles like Wicked and The Traitors, along with Premier League matches and live golf all in one place. Peacock offers plans starting at $7.99 a month and you can cancel anytime.
“They had good chemistry, they were playing well together, but we did get our bigs out of the rotation, proud of Ayla [McDowell] for coming in and giving us some really great minutes,” Staley said regarding the amount of minutes her players logged against the Cardinals.
Overall, Staley believes that her team “executed” against what she called a “great basketball team.” “[It] was a heavyweight boxing match, and it came down to who was going to make the biggest at the moment you needed it the most,” the 55-year-old noted.
“I thought they got out and made big plays for themselves in the fourth and building the five-point lead, and it was a turning point for us, whether we were going to succumb to losing the game or fight to get back in it.”
“[Louisville head coach] Jeff [Walz] ‘s always notorious for just throwing jump defenses, and I thought they did get us after a timeout one time, where we didn’t execute. We turned the ball over. But for the most part, I thought we were good the entire game.”