dawn staley: Dawn Staley hails South Carolina's Tessa Johnson, Bree Hall as bench players play vital part in Final Four win

Dawn Staley hails South Carolina's Tessa Johnson, Bree Hall as bench players play vital part in Final Four win

NCAA Womens Basketball: South Carolina at Louisiana State - Source: Imagn — Dawn Staley has built a deep program in South Carolina. - Source: Imagn

Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks overcame a slow start in their Final Four matchup against the Texas Longhorns. With Chloe Kitts in foul trouble and limited to six points, someone else stepped up as the Gamecocks ran away with a 74-57 victory.

Te-Hina Paopao led South Carolina with 14 points and Bree Hall added 11. Coming in from the bench, Joyce Edwards had 13 points, while Tessa Johnson added nine.

“It’s what we’ve counted on all season long,” Dawn Staley said. "Ever since last year, our depth has been a part of the success of our program. They could start both of them. Joyce can start for any program."

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The South Carolina bench contributed 35 points, and while the Longhorns reserves produced 27 points, Jordan Lee had 16 of them. No other Texas bench player scored more than four points or had over three rebounds.

The Gamecocks’ depth has responded all season long. Edwards started on the bench, but she leads the Gamecocks with 12.7 points per game. Tessa Johnson scores at an 8.3-point clip. In fact, there are nine South Carolina players averaging at least five points per game.

The Gamecocks will now face the UConn Huskies, another team likely to test their depth in the national championship game on Sunday.

Dawn Staley downplays undefeated record in championship games

After the win over Texas, Dawn Staley gave her first thoughts on the championship game.

The coach is 3-0 in title games, but she downplayed any effect it could carry into the game on Sunday.

"Saying that we're undefeated in the national championship game is not going to help,” Dawn Staley said. "I wish it would help. I wish it would spot us 10 points because we're undefeated."

The Gamecocks handed UConn its first championship game loss in 2022, defeating the Huskies 64-47. Huskies coach Geno Auriemma had won all 11 title games they played before.

UConn still leads the all-time series 10-5, and the Huskies already defeated South Carolina 87-58 in Columbia this season. The Gamecocks haven't dropped a game since, with 12 consecutive wins heading into the final.

The championship game will be played on Sunday at 3 pm ET in Tampa’s Amalie Arena. UConn will be looking for its 12th national title, while the Gamecocks will look to become the first back-to-back champions since 2016. It would be their fourth title in program history.

About the author

Allan Wolburg Robles is a College Sports journalist at Sportskeeda with over 17 years of experience in the field writing for publications including Reforma, Yahoo! OddsShark and Apuesta. Allan studied Communications at Anáhuac University, where he learned what would become the basis of a trade that was already a dream of his before starting college.

His favorite team is Army West Point as when he was young, Allan lived in West Point for a couple of years, went to pretty much every home game, a couple of Army-Navy games and even got to meet some of the players.

Allan's favorite players of all time include Tommie Frazier, who was unbelievable during the Nebraska dynasty of the early 90's. Tim Tebow was also a favorite, mainly because of his leadership skills, although he was also awesome on the football field. As a fan of defensive football, (or what's left of it), Sean Taylor could take over a game for Miami.

Allan has always considered himself a student of the game more than a fan of it. So the historical part and evolution of the game, as well as the ins and outs of what happens on the field, and being able to put it into words for the audience, are his biggest strengths.

Besides sports, Allan enjoys reading books, watching movies and spending time with his dogs.

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Edited by Nicolaas Ackermann