When Dawn Staley talked about not taking a timeout vs in-form Caitlin Clark which lead to a national championship: “I sat down. But I trusted my team”

In her Jul. 30, 2024 interview with "Taking the Pulse," Dawn Staley reflected on the importance of staying mentally collected as a coach. Reflecting on South Carolina's undefeated championship run last season, specifically the title game against Caitlin Clark's Iowa, Staley shared that despite the Hawkeyes' significant lead in the first quarter, she had unwavering faith in her team.

This confidence stemmed from the strong habits she helped them build throughout the season:

"I believe in our team, we got a really good team, we've created great habits, great practice habits that we've taken throughout the entire season and then we rely on those habits, we rely on the things that we've done well," she said (6:48).

"Take our national championship game, we were down double digits in the first quarter and I sat there. I said a few choice words to the officials and then I sat down, but I trusted my team. Any other coach would probably call the quick timeout and I just sat there."

The Iowa Hawkeyes opened the NCAA championship game with a 10-0 lead and built it to 20-9 thanks to 13 quick points by Caitlin Clark. However, Dawn Staley's crew built a three-point lead by the break and eventually won the national championship with an 87-75 score.

While Staley did make adjustments throughout the game, she refrained from taking a timeout during Iowa's early scoring run. Realizing that her players were just struggling to convert shots, she gave them a little time to adjust to the pace and style of the Hawkeyes.

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Dawn Staley hosts five-star prospect Oliviyah Edwards

No. 4 overall prospect in the 2026 class, Oliviyah Edwards, visited the South Carolina Gamecocks during an unofficial visit. She was welcomed by Dawn Staley and even participated in a photo shoot with the program. Edwards shared a series of photos on social media, posing with her mother, Staley and her dog.

Edwards, a junior from Elite Sports Academy, currently remains uncommitted to a college program and has not given a timeline for her decision-making process.

"I have not booked any official visits yet," Edwards said to On3 earlier in January. "Some schools are wanting me to book closer to my decision date. I don’t know when I’m going to decide yet, so we haven’t booked anything."

Oliviyah is one of the most physically gifted prospects in her class. Alongside Dawn Staley's Gamecocks, she has narrowed down her preferred program to nine other schools, including Duke, Notre Dame, LSU and Tennessee.