Dawn Staley gave five-word message to South Carolina star that inspired breakout game© Getty Images

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley revealed the touching message she offered Chloe Kitts prior to the star forward’s best performance of the season.

On Thursday, Kitts propelled the Gamecocks to a 81-70 win over No. 8 seed Duke at Colonial Life Arena – marking South Carolina’s 62nd straight home victory. The 20-year-old finished the contest with 21 points – matching her career high – 11 rebounds, two steals and two blocks on 9-of-14 shooting from the field.

The dominant showing was a stark contrast to Kitts’ recent stretch of poor performances. Over the prior four contests against Clemson, UCLA, Iowa State and Purdue, she only managed to eclipse 10 points in a game once – resulting in her minutes to slightly decrease.

Speaking to ESPN’s Nicole Briscoe following the contest, Staley conceded that Kitts’ confidence had been dwindling in recent weeks. But the 54-year-old encouraged the young player to keep her head up, insisting that she still had full trust in her abilities.

“She was due the last couple of games,” Staley said of Kitts. “She got off to a good start, but it wasn’t consistent throughout the game. We needed her tonight, and she came through.

“I mean, she’s been wanting us to believe in her, and I’m telling her, ‘We do believe in you, we do.’ We just had that conversation yesterday after practice. She was like, ‘I don’t think you believe.’ That’s not the question at all, and she comes out and proves herself time and time again.

“Utmost respect to Chloe because she works extremely hard at her game, at her habits and I’m glad basketball repaid her tonight.”

Staley expressed a similar sentiment during a postgame press conference, highlighting Kitts’ prior struggles and unwavering commitment to being great. “Chloe wants it bad, you know. Sometimes it works for her, and sometimes it works against her. Today it worked for her,” she told reporters.

“Just as early as yesterday, basically she’s telling me I don’t believe in her. Like, where did you get that from? Part of it is, you can look at the minutes, and her minutes decreased over Thanksgiving.

“She did take some bad shots over Thanksgiving, and I took her out because of it. She didn’t take bad shots today. And because of that, she gets this kind of performance. When she takes bad shots, it kind of lends itself to us not being able to right the track … My expectation is for her to take better shots, so she can set the example.

Discussing Kitts’ rigorous preparation before games, Staley added: “I’m happy because Chloe pours into herself. She does all the right things in regards to prepping herself, she does all the right things in making lifestyle changes in order for her to play this way. She wants to be a pro, so she’s active in doing things and creating habits that will help her.

“I want basketball to repay her for that every time she steps on the floor, because there’s so many [players] that just come to practice, and that’s it. She does all the extra, so I want basketball to repay her in this way a lot more times than it has.”