Everything Dawn Staley said about Georgia Amoore after South Carolina beat Kentucky 

After No. 6 South Carolina defeated No. 15 Kentucky 78-66, coach Dawn Staley provided insights on Wildcats guard Georgia Amoore's leadership. The coach praised the Virginia Tech transfer in the post-game conference by highlighting different aspects of her game that factor in winning games.

"They got a really good point guard," she said (at 1:08). "When you got a point guard that can distribute a basketball, that can create her own shot, that can knock down threes, that can read defenses - I mean she puts people in great positions to just have to make a basket.

"And when you have a leader like that, it's going to give you opportunities to win and win a lot of basketball games.

Georgia Amoore scored 16 points, four rebounds and three assists on 8 of 19 shooting. Her impact on the game against South Carolina was less than what she had averaged throughout the season - 18.9 points and 7.0 assists.

Dawn Staley highlighted Tessa Johnson's role in containing Amoore, praising that she played off the Kentucky guard just how the team needed.

"Her defense was on point, she actually played Amoore the way we needed to play her, the discipline it took for the way that we needed to play her," Staley said (at 2:28).

"We made adjustments in at halftime that we couldn't quite execute and then when we put Tessa in the game, I think her defense ... really just gave us a boost."

Georgia Amoore had 10 points at the break but was restricted to 2 of 4 shooting in the third quarter. Both of her shots came when Tessa Johnson was on the bench.

Dawn Staley's strategy to minimize Georgia Amoore's impact

Dawn Staley said Johnson's ability to focus purely on defense in the finishing minutes helped the Gamecocks win the contest. She held Amoore to 1 of 5 shooting (2 points) in the fourth as South Carolins forced seven turnovers in the last 5:15 minutes.

"The lock-in by Tessa, the lock-in - the deflections," she said (at 3:40). "We dove on the ball, got tie-ups after tie-ups and we just made it difficult."

While Dawn Staley did not foresee its advantages, she shared that the team ultimately benefitted from forcing Georgia Amoore to her right.

"I thought when we got Amore going more right than you left, that created better rotations for us and I thought we did a good job at capitalizing on our defense," she said. (4:08)

South Carolina(15-1) was tied with Texas for the same conference record and earned the first seed for the SEC tournament through a coin flip. They earn two byes and will begin the tourney in the quarter-finals. Fourth-seeded Kentucky will follow the same suit.