Dawn Staley clears the air on Raven Johnson's comment about Kamilla Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins amid beef with Indiana player

Dawn Staley cleared the air on Raven Johnson's comment about Kamilla Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins following South Carolina's win over Indiana in the second round of the 2025 NCAA Tournament.

During an interview with WIS News with Judi Gatson and Billie Jean Shaw on Wednesday, Staley was asked to set the record straight about what Johnson was trying to convey when the South Carolina guard said that the Gamecocks don't need Cardoso or Watkins to win.

"Raven’s a competitor," Staley said (Timestamp 1:55). "The Indiana player is a competitor. Sometimes, as competitors, you say things to get under your opponent’s skin, which the comment did get under our kid’s skin."

South Carolina Gamecocks center Kamilla Cardoso (10) reacts with guard Raven Johnson (25) during the trophy presentation after they defeated the Iowa Hawkeyes in the 2024 NCAA national championship game. Photo: Imagn

The comment Staley alluded to is Indiana player Sydney Parrish saying before the game that it would be advantageous for the Hoosiers to face a Gamecocks team without post players Kamilla Cardoso and Ashlyn Watkins in the lineup.

In response to this, Johnson said their team doesn't depend on one or two players as in direct reference to Parrish's earlier remarks.

“People said we don't have dominant big,” Johnson said. “... I know y'all saw the press conference of what the Indiana girl said: that we were weren't gonna win without Ashlyn or Kamilla ... We don't need Ashlyn or Kamilla to win."

Staley understood Johnson's intention behind the remarks.

"You got to grade our team on this year. We haven’t been with Ashlyn or Kamilla for a very long time. I think what got under the skin of Raven is probably the ‘smart’ comment," Staley said.

"I think our team, Raven knows this, we’re a very disciplined basketball team. We’re a very ‘together’ basketball team. We’re a team that can make adjustments so Raven was just speaking on that, being the competitor that she is."

According to Dawn Staley, Johnson wanted to emphasize that South Carolina has a formidable team even without Cardoso and Watkins.

"We’re a team that’s played probably 10, 11 of our players all season long so it’s always a ‘next woman up’ mentality," Staley said. "So Raven just wanted to hit home that we got a really good basketball team and she’s got a team full of sisters that have each other’s back."

Dawn Staley and Raven Johnson to face Maryland next in South Carolina's Sweet 16 clash

Dawn Staley and Raven Johnson's main focus now is on the South Carolina Gamecocks' Sweet 16 showdown with the fourth-seeded Maryland Terrapins. The top-seeded Gamecocks have stamped their class in the NCAA Tournament thus far, beating the No. 16 seed Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles and the No. 9 seed Indiana Hoosiers by an average of 35.5 points in the first two rounds.

South Carolina Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley speaks with guard Raven Johnson (25) in the first half at Colonial Life Arena. Mandatory Credit: Photo: Imagn

Raven Johnson helped South Carolina record an emphatic 108-48 victory over Tennessee Tech in the first round, recording eight points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. She followed that up with a five-point outing against Indiana.