Dawn Staley compares both losses to Geno Auriemma, UConn this season, says "momentum changing" plays cost South Carolina the NCAA title

Dawn Staley believes the South Carolina Gamecocks did one thing considerably better in the championship game than in their regular-season defeat to the UConn Huskies, even if it didn’t show up in the final score.

After the Huskies defeated South Carolina 82-59 to secure their 12th national title, Staley was asked to compare her team’s performance in each game against Connecticut.

“I thought we did a great job protecting the three-point line. That was one of the things going into the game if we could make it a two-point game, meaning twos (two-point baskets), we could keep it close. I thought that the threes that they did get were momentum-changing for them,” Dawn Staley said (12:04).

When UConn defeated the Gamecocks 87-58 on Feb. 16, the Huskies went 13-for-28 (46.4%) on three-point attempts. In comparison, the Huskies could only score four of 17 shots from beyond the arc in the championship game.

However, as Dawn Staley mentioned, UConn’s buckets on three-point shots came at key junctures of the game.

Ashlynn Shade scored a three-pointer with nine seconds left before the half, giving the Huskies a 10-point halftime lead. Then, with the Gamecocks threatening to cut the lead to single digits at 50-39 with around three minutes left in the third, Azzi Fudd and Sarah Strong scored three-pointers in consecutive possessions to turn it into a 56-40 game.

South Carolina would not cut the lead beyond 16 points after that. While Connecticut struggled from deep, they scored 48.4% of their shots from the floor, while the Gamecocks went 21-for-61 from the field (34.4%) and 4-for-16 (25%) from beyond the arc.

Dawn Staley shares message for South Carolina seniors

There were four seniors on the South Carolina Gamecocks squad that lost to UConn on Sunday. After the game, Dawn Staley shared what she told the senior players.

“Giving them their last flowers of just being in the locker room (the message) is just hang your head up high. There’s no other college, women’s college basketball student athlete has what they have, experienced what they experienced, won as much as they’ve won,” Staley said.

The Gamecocks had four seniors suiting up this season: guards Te-Hina Paopao, Sania Feagin, and Bree Hall as well as center Sakim Walker.

South Carolina won two titles in the last four seasons and lost a final for the first time in program history on Sunday against UConn. No college team has won as many games as the Lady Gamecocks over that span either.