South Carolina’s title defense is alive and head coach Dawn Staley couldn’t be happier.
“I’m just happy. We work hard for it. We know that when you’ve been to a national championship game … you know what it takes to get back there,” Staley said Friday, following No. 1 South Carolina’s dominant 74-57 win over No. 1 Texas. “Our players know what it takes. We were just very fortunate to hang in there and persevere. We finally played better and our style of play.”
The Gamecocks had struggled to find their offensive rhythm in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament entering Friday. They survived multiple close contests, including a narrow 54-50 Elite Eight win over No. 2 Duke and a 71-67 Sweet 16 win over No. 4 Maryland. But South Carolina showcased their nation-leading depth vs. Texas.
Now, the Gamecocks are one win away from becoming the first team to win back-to-back national championships since UConn’s historic four-peat from 2013 to 2016. South Carolina will face either No. 1 UCLA or No. 2 UConn in the title game Sunday. “Sunday sounds good,” Staley teased.
Here’s how Staley reacted to her team’s Final Four win:
Dawn Staley on South Carolina’s depth
“It’s great. We worked our depth all season long for moments like this,” said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley, who donned a burgundy Gucci tracksuit that matched South Carolina’s school colors. “(Sania) Feagin got a little foul trouble early. Chloe (Kitts) got a little foul trouble early. We went deeper into our bench.”
Joyce Edwards led the way with 13 points (4-of-11) off the bench.
Dawn Staley on Joyce Edwards
South Carolina’s bench leads the nation in points per game (40.6), but was held to only nine points in South Carolina’s Elite Eight win over No. 2 Duke. The Gamecocks’ bench, however, was firing on all cylinders Friday and recorded 31 of South Carolina’s 74 points. Every single player on South Carolina’s roster entered the game.
Freshman forward Joyce Edwards had struggled in the 2025 women’s NCAA Tournament. After scoring 22 points in her March Madness debut in South Carolina’s opener against No. 16 Tennessee Tech, Edwards was held to 15 points total between the next three games. Edwards broke through the slump on Friday.
“Hello, Miss Joyce Edwards,” Staley said during a postgame interview on the ESPN broadcast. “I know it had to feel good for her to see that ball go in. I’m so proud of her defense and her passing. We got to her skillset, because she has all of things. It’s just when you are pressing, you can’t see anything and you are moving too fast. She slowed down and took a beat here and there and she made the right basketball plays.”
Dawn Staley cracks smile after player goes down
It was not all scowls on the sidelines for Staley. There were also smiles.
After senior guard Bree Hall knocked down a 3 to give the Gamecocks a 41-35 advantage with 9:35 remaining in the third quarter, Hall appeared to lose her footing and fell down. The fall happened right in front of South Carolina’s bench and elicited a laugh from Staley.
On Thursday, Staley said Hall is “in my top five in my 25 years of coaching.” Hall has played four seasons under Staley at South Carolina (2021-25) and the duo have won two championships together so far.
“(Hall is) definitely underrated as a defender. I think our game sometimes looks at stats. She’s not one that’s going to steal the ball. She’s one that’s going to get your top scorer shooting at an inefficient clip and that’s her claim to fame,” Staley said. “And she’s really locked in when it comes to that side because she knows that she’s got to do her part. And her part is a big part that we rely on to get wins. And that’s not scoring a whole lot of points. It’s actually preventing our opponents from scoring a lot of points.”
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