“Was more intentional about making her presence felt”: Dawn Staley credits South Carolina’s redshirt freshman for impressing in just 5 minutes

Dawn Staley gave a shout-out to redshirt freshman Adhel Tac for impressing despite limited minutes during the South Carolina Gamecocks' 83-52 win over the Missouri Tigers on Thursday at Mizzou Arena. Staley made special mention of her substitute player in a media briefing during practice ahead of No. 2 South Carolina's weekend showdown with Mississippi State.

A reporter asked Staley what impressed her the most about Tac in the game against Missouri. The South Carolina coach smiled when she heard the question about Tac, who provided instant offense off the bench in the Gamecocks' SEC opener. She scored nine points in just five minutes of action.

"What was truly impressive about Adhel is she doesn’t know whether she’s going to play or not," Staley said (Timestamp 1:39). But when her number is called, she gets in and she was more intentional last night about just making her presence felt.”

Staley later emphasized to reporters that Tac is still finding her groove after a long injury layoff. She suffered a knee injury in Nov. 2023 during her senior year in high school, which ruled her out for the rest of the season.

“We have to really understand that she really hasn’t played in two years so she’s continuing to knock the dust off," Staley said. "She looked great. She does a great job with being on our highlighters. She’s getting reps."

Staley praised Tac not only for her offensive production but also for her improvement on the defensive end. She grabbed six rebounds and had one block against Missouri. Tac shot 3-for-5 from the field and knocked down three of her five attempts at the charity stripe.

Dawn Staley leans on South Carolina's bench scoring in win over Missouri

It wasn't just Adhel Tac who delivered off the bench for Dawn Staley's South Carolina. Four other Gamecocks reserves scored at least nine points in the win over the Tigers. MiLaysia Fulwiley stuffed the stat sheet, recording 17 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks.

South Carolina guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (#12) reacts with her teammates after the Gamecocks scored a basket against the TCU Horned Frogs during the second half of their game at Dickies Arena. Photo: Imagn

Ashlyn Watkins and Tessa Johnson also contributed, scoring 11 and 10 points, respectively. Joyce Edwards added nine points for the Gamecocks, who extended their winning streak to eight games to improve their overall record to 13-1. South Carolina's bench players accounted for 57 of the Gamecocks' 83 points.