ALBANY — With less than a minute left in a two-point game and a spot in the Elite Eight on the line Friday night, Indiana suddenly pushed undefeated No. 1 South Carolina to the brink in the fourth quarter. , overcame a 17-point halftime deficit. deficit. But South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley had Raven Johnson in mind.
She saw the look in Johnson’s eyes in the final minutes as the lead narrowed. It was a look she had seen from her players all season.
“I knew she wasn’t going to let us lose,” Staley said. “She knew she was up to something.”
That something turned out to be several things. The first was a mid-range jumper in the lane to give the Gamecocks a 72-65 lead, the second was Camila Cardoso’s 3-pointer off a post kickout to push the lead back to five points, and finally the second point. decided. Two attempts at the free throw line kept it a two-possession game.
Both the looks and the growth in play are what Staley felt was coming out of this team during practice before the regular season and during the season.
The Shamcocks replaced all five starters from last year’s Final Four, sending four to the field. WNBA. Four of this year’s starting pitchers, including Johnson, started on the bench against Iowa.
During the game, she was on the court near the top of the arc, watching the defense with the ball, but no one was around. Her Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark saw her and shook her hand, and the moment went viral online.
Johnson passed the ball out.
Now she says that moment was the best thing that ever happened to her.
“I was just told to go to the gym and work on my weaknesses,” Johnson said.
That’s the mentality Staley wants on this roster. The Shumcocks have had their individual moments, like Cardoso’s late 3-pointer against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament and Johnson stepping up against Indiana, but Staley said the practice gym is where he feels most comfortable about the team. He said it was the location.
She credits the team’s practice squad, known as the “Highlighters,” with contributing to its competitiveness. They beat Gamecock in that practice environment. a lot.
“No matter how fast they are, they’re a lot faster,” Staley said. So now you can watch the game a little slower, even if your team isn’t as fast as Highlighter. ”
Staley has watched the team come together in practice, during games and off the court. Although she has certainly coached them, she has found them rising together in their own ways to overcome obstacles.
“As coaches, we like to think we’re involved in the identity of our team,” Staley said. “This team built it. They built it themselves.”
As the lead against Indiana narrowed in the second half, they deviated from taking a timeout to make adjustments. why? That’s because they knew gamecocks could do it themselves.
“They don’t want to lose, and each player has a strange way of understanding that,” Staley said. “They don’t get upset when they lose a 22-point lead, they don’t get upset when they lose a double-digit lead. They don’t get fazed by it. It’s incredible to see how they handle adverse situations all season long. I can’t help it.”
The staff called a play to get the ball to Cardoso, who drew an extra defender from the Hoosiers, leaving Raven Johnson open to the right of the 3-point arc.
Johnson was well prepared and hit the shots, making a clutch 3-pointer that all but decided the game a few minutes later.
It wasn’t the kind of shot Johnson would have felt confident hitting last year, she said. As her clock ticked down and Reid went with it, she remembered how last year had ended and how she felt then.
This is a shot she took countless times before, during and after practice. Her coaches and teammates watched her hit her shot quota every day, and it felt good when everyone on the Shamcox side of the floor let go of her.
Te Hina Paopa’o, a transfer from Oregon State, said he knew the shot was going to go in as soon as Johnson caught the ball.
“When Raven is in a rhythm and she knows the ball is going to come to her, she steps up and when she’s in a rhythm, the ball goes in,” Paopao said.
Johnson credits her teammates with giving her the confidence she lacked during last year’s run. But she would have had her confidence that Pao Pao, Hall, or any of the other Siamese cocks would have shot it if she hadn’t been the one who shot it.
“No matter who it is, we encourage everyone as a team,” Johnson said.
