After South Carolina’s season concluded with a loss to UConn on Sunday, Dawn Staley took a moment to highlight some of the unsung heroes.
In the NCAA National Championship Game at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla., the Gamecocks were defeated 82-59 by the Huskies.
South Carolina, the top seed, struggled with shooting, hitting only 34.4% of their field goals and 25.0% from three-point range.
Staley fulfilled her duties by addressing the media at the team’s official press conference.
However, after that, she made sure to thank the local reporters who had followed the team throughout the season in a final interaction.
She expressed appreciation for their coverage and voiced a wish that more women’s basketball programs could receive similar local media attention as South Carolina.
“I’ll leave on this note,” Staley said. “This is our local media. You all have followed us all season long.
A lot of times, people ask me to do things on a national scale, and I say no a lot because they don’t really know our team.
You guys know our team… You’re fair in how you assess us. If every program had this, I think we could push women’s basketball forward on a local level across the country.”
The 54-year-old coach has had her challenges with national media, recently criticizing ESPN for sensationalizing her remarks about UConn star Paige Bueckers.
Staley had aimed to elevate her own players, emphasizing that they deserved recognition for reaching the championship without a standout player like Bueckers.
Despite the loss, Staley and the Gamecocks have built a legacy of success in women’s college basketball, and that is unlikely to change anytime soon.
