South Carolina coach Dawn Staley’s No. 2 Gamecocks suffered their first loss of the season in the Players’ Era Festival championship game. Despite holding a lead in the fourth quarter, the Madison Booker-led No. 4 Texas Longhorns narrowly beat the Gamecocks 66-64.
The win by coach Vic Schaefer’s team avenged the Longhorns’ Final Four and SEC Tournament losses to Staley last season.
Dawn Staley Used Raven Johnson To Deal With Madison Booker Threat
Booker has continued her hot streak of form this season and is averaging 16.7 points on 50% shooting from the floor and 33.3% shooting from beyond the arc, 6.6 rebounds, and 3.6 assists for the Longhorns this season.
During her postgame news conference, Staley revealed how the Gamecocks planned to neutralize Booker’s threat by utilizing guard Raven Johnson’s tenacity in defense on the Texas forward.
“Anytime you’re matching up with any of the Texas guards, you know the one thing is to make them be as inefficient as possible,” Staley said. “Make them miss shots. We did a really good job on Booker until the end, when she hit some key buckets. I think we had to give Raven a blow and in that blow, she got hot.
“Once a player like that gets hot, the basket gets pretty big. I like Raven’s physicality. I like how she played underneath her. I like how she chased off her screens and made it difficult for her to catch. Once she gets the ball, she’s got some height and she can just shoot over you.”
Booker finished the contest with 16.0 points, nine rebounds, and one assist, while Johnson tallied five points and six assists.
Staley Optimistic Despite South Carolina Loss
Despite the Gamecocks’ first loss of the season, the charismatic Staley revealed her optimism at the way her team pushed the experienced Longhorns to the wire.
“I just like the fact that we got some experience with this team playing a team that pretty much brings back the core of their team,” Staley said. “And if you can give them a run for their money in that way, I mean, you’re on to something. You’re on to being a better team. So, I like our resiliency. We’ve just got to clean up some things at the end of the game.”
Last season, Schaefer’s Longhorns and Staley’s Gamecocks pushed each other to the wire and required a coin toss to determine the No. 1 seed for the SEC Tournament, where they met in the final. The teams met once again in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament to add spice to the budding rivalry.