South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley has always been able to make light of any situation. Sunday was no different.
Following UConn's 82-59 win over the Gamecocks in the women's national championship game – marking one of the largest margins of victory in a title game in NCAA history – Staley matter-of-factly said the Huskies "beat our ass."
"Our kids gave it all they had," Staley said Sunday after the defeat, which marked the program's first championship loss in four appearances. "When you can understand why you lost and when you've been on the other side of that three times, you understand it. You can swallow it. We lost to a very, very good basketball team that beat our ass, but they didn't make us like it. There's a difference."
Staley said her team simply "didn't take care of the basketball." The Gamecocks had 11 turnovers and shot 34.4% from the field. "We took a couple of bad shots. We didn't make layups, and they make you pay," Staley added.
Although the Gamecocks will lose an experienced senior class that helped transform the program into a dynasty, including Bree Hall, Raven Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao, the Gamecocks' roster also features talented underclassmen that Staley said will benefit from playing in a national championship game, even if they are on the losing side.
"I hope they're crying," Staley said of her underclassmen, including freshmen Joyce Edwards and sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley. "I hope they're boo-hooing because from crying they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason. Makes you look at it and really analyze what the separation is from their ...
