Dawn Staley makes her feelings known on Mikayla Blakes before South Carolina faces Vanderbilt

Dawn Staley and the sixth-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks will look to make it back-to-back wins when they take on the Vanderbilt Commodores at Memorial Gymnasium on Sunday. Staley spoke about Vanderbilt star Mikayla Blakes during Friday’s news conference ahead of the SEC clash.

A reporter asked Staley her thoughts on what Blakes has done this season and how she plans to stop a player who is “on fire” offensively. The South Carolina coach acknowledged her team’s challenge in dealing with one of the best young talents in college basketball today.

"It’s hard to stop when you got the greenest of green lights," Staley said (Timestamp 0:47). "It’s hard to stop when you’re unafraid. You have no fear of missed shots. You have no fear of turning the ball over. You have no fear."

Dawn Staley shared that for the Gamecocks to be successful, they’ll need to make Blakes work hard for her points.

"So it’s kind of hard when you’re running up against a player like that," Staley said. "You just got to make it difficult. You got to control what you can control. You can control if you’re following her or not. You can control whether or not you’re giving her clean looks."

"Those are the things that we can control. We just try to get her to play inefficient basketball."

Mikayla Blakes has been a vital player for the Vanderbilt Commodores this season, averaging 23.4 points per game to lead the team in scoring. She has scored at least 50 points twice in her last six games, achieving those feats in Vanderbilt’s wins over Florida and Auburn.

Blakes scored 53 points in the 99-86 victory over the Gators on Jan. 30 before topping that with a 55-point performance in the Commodores’ 98-88 overtime win against the Tigers on Sunday.

Dawn Staley's South Carolina bounces back with huge win over Arkansas

The South Carolina Gamecocks bounced back from Sunday’s embarrassing 29-point loss to the UConn Huskies, recording an emphatic 95-55 win over the Arkansas Razorbacks at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday night.

South Carolina Gamecocks forward Joyce Edwards (#8) looks to shoot over Arkansas Razorbacks forward Vera Ojenuwa (#22) in the first half of their NCAA game at Colonial Life Arena. Photo: Imagn

Joyce Edwards stepped up for Staley’s squad, scoring 18 points on 8-for-14 shooting. MiLaysia Fulwiley also contributed off the bench, scoring 15 points, grabbing four rebounds and dishing out four assists for the Gamecocks, who improved their record to 24-3.