Dawn Staley makes her feelings known on Mississippi State Bulldogs after Kentucky defeat 

Dawn Staley is preparing her South Carolina Gamecocks for their second conference matchup against the Mississippi State Bulldogs on Sunday. The team is coming off its 83-52 routing of the Missouri Tigers for its first SEC win on Thursday and will try to replicate the same success against MS State.

Earlier on Friday, however, the Bulldogs just suffered a 91-69 defeat to the Kentucky Wildcats. The game is set to be played on Mississippi State's home floor, so Staley was able to get reps in the arena with her squad. During practice, the reigning national champion coach was asked by WACH FOX's Matt Dowell about her thoughts on their upcoming opponent:

"Formidable opponent...They can score it. They are coached well. They are very calculated in what they want from an offensive standpoint," Staley said.

Talking about Mississippi State's defense then, Staley added:

"Defensively, they're a little stingy."

South Carolina currently has a 13-1 overall record in the 2024-2025 season, with their only loss coming from the No. 1 program in the nation, the UCLA Bruins. Perhaps, the Bulldogs could watch film from that game in November and learn how they were able to defeat the defending champions then.

On the other hand, Mississippi State possesses a similar 13-2 standing, which was 13-1 before the Kentucky loss. With wins over teams like Utah and Memphis, they could stand as a valiant opposition to the Gamecocks' hopes of winning a second-straight conference fixture. But, there is also a chance that the Dawn Staley-coached squad could face a repeat of the team that lost earlier on Friday.

With a surefire matchup lined up for 2:00 p.m. EST on Sunday, both powerhouse teams will look to gain more momentum at the start of SEC games with win No. 14.

Dawn Staley says discipline is key to a win on Sunday

Later on in the same interview, Staley revealed what she believes her team has to focus on en route to their second SEC victory of the campaign:

"I think there's going to be wheels of discipline for us in what we need to do to continue to get another road win in our conference."

The Gamecocks are currently averaging 11.8 turnovers a game this year as opposed to the Bulldogs' 15.9. But, Mississippi State has a higher field goal percentage than South Carolina on the campaign, with the former going for 48% while the latter is currently listed at 46.4%.

If the defending national title champions are looking to win on Sunday and keep that success up, then they're going to have to sustain their low turnover rate and improve on their shooting percentages — as per their coach.