$12M worth Dawn Staley drops 3-word message ahead of South Florida-South Carolina matchup.
NCAA Womens Basketball: Duke at South Carolina – Source: Imagn
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks are set to take on Jose Fernandez’ South Florida Bulls on Sunday. In anticipation of the clash at Colonial Life Arena, Staley took to X/Twitter to energize fans.
The No. 3 Gamecocks, who possess a 9-1 record on the season, will try to stretch their win streak to five games as they welcome the unranked South Florida (5-5).
“IT’S GAME DAY!!!” Staley wrote on X, hours before tipoff.
South Carolina fans are no strangers to the enthusiasm their coach brings to the program. They showed their support by rallying behind her in the comments with messages of support.
Staley, whose reported net worth is $12 million per Yahoo Sports, and the Gamecocks won two of the last three NCAA national championships, including last year’s triumph. They went an entire season without a single loss only to get upset by No. 1 UCLA in November.
South Carolina’s Instagram account also shared preview coverage of the matchup on their profile featuring freshman guard Maddy McDaniel. The game will be broadcast live on SEC Network at 2 p.m. ET.
Dawn Staley previews tactical battle against South Florida
Despite one defeat, Dawn Staley’s team has been largely dominant, defeating top teams like NC State, Iowa State, Duke and Hailey Van Lith’s TCU.
Staley spoke about the upcoming game against USF during the Friday press conference.
“For us, it’s a team that poses a threat of, they’re always moving, they’re always going to challenge you to fit every screen, and a lot of that action is away from basketball,” she said.
We may have a tendency to not see the full court. They’re going to force us to do that. For us, we have to be disruptive. With a team like South Florida, you can’t allow them to just take the shots that they want to take, or else it’ll be a long, just a long day for us. So, it’s our will versus their will.”
The Bulls have already played some notable opponents this campaign, including No. 2 UConn, falling 86–49, Vanderbilt, who beat them 62–49 and No. 12 TCU, losing 87–46. They won their last game against Merrimack 62–43 after going 0-3 in their previous games.
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina faced South Florida last time in the second round of the 2023 NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks won convincingly 76–45 to advance to the Sweet 16. They beat UCLA and Maryland but lost to Iowa in the Final Four.
