TAMPA – Only three programs in women’s NCAA history have repeated as champions: Connecticut, Tennessee and Southern California. There is intense pressure that come with the quest for two in a row, and South Carolina is the most recent team to face it. How are the Gamecocks navigating the gravity of their goal? By doing TikTok dances, drawing in coloring books and building Lego sets. During their pre-Final Four press conference, Raven Johnson and Te-Hina PaoPao can’t stop laughing. Between questions — and sometimes during — they whisper and giggle to each other. Everything is funny and nothing is serious. And that’s why the Gamecocks could win another championship.
“If you eat, sleep, breathe basketball, you’re honestly going to be depressed and stressed about it,” Johnson said. “I think it helps us, gives us a little laughter, makes us enjoy things other than basketball.”
After going undefeated last season on the way to the program’s third championship, losses became something that other teams suffered. Not South Carolina. So this season, when the Gamecocks dropped even just three games (to UCLA, Texas and UConn), it took some spectators by surprise. Especially the 29-point loss to UConn, which broke South Carolina’s 71-game home winning streak. For the first time in a long time, people outside the program were seeking out reasons for the slip-ups. Dawn Staley is still the same coach, and the Gamecocks have virtually the same team as last season, minus impact-making center Kamilla Cardoso. So their off-court antics took the blame.
“Sometimes people can’t understand from the outside,” redshirt freshman Adhel Tac said. “They feel like from watching they know something we don’t know. I get that you can’t have basketball without criticism, but at the same time, this is just a sport at the end of the day and it is better for us to be able to play with a clear mind instead of struggling.”
Their strategy is paying off, because despite any critiques, South Carolina is back in a familiar place: The program’s seventh Final Four since 2015.
If they feel pressure, the Gamecocks aren’t showing it. Since the loss to UConn, South Carolina has won 11 games in a row, including the SEC Championship game over Final Four opponent Texas.
And on Wednesday, with the semifinals fast approaching, the Gamecocks spent their evening singing karaoke, battling in NBA2K and playing ping pong. Freshman Joyce Edwards won the 2K tournament, and senior Sakima Walker beat sophomore MiLaysia Fulwiley in ping pong, “like six times,” she said with a laugh.
The fun they have off the court helps them stay connected on the court, Walker said. And when it’s time for basketball, the Gamecocks lock in. Staley knows her team is fun-loving and even child-like at times, but she’s found ways to engage with them.
“She tells us when we are too loose and we need to tighten up,” senior Te-Hina PaoPao said. “She’s just done a really good job balancing it and helping us out. And she’s joined us, part of our childish moments as well. Sometimes she starts it.”
More than sometimes, freshman Maddy McDaniel says.
“She knows the kind of kids she has on her team, and she doesn’t take that away from us,” McDaniel said. “And just as goofy as we are, she is the leader of the goofiness.”
Staley’s ability to embrace her team’s silly side also means that when she has something important to say, the Gamecocks listen. Junior Maryam Dauda, who transferred in this season, says most of her previous coaches have been too strict and serious. It took the joy out of basketball, so having a coach like Staley has renewed her love for the game.
“For our generation, having an intense coach all the time makes things harder,” she said. “She has that goofy side, but at the same time, when she gets that serious look on her face we know to lock in.”
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In addition to embracing her team’s personalities, Staley has also encouraged them to embrace a new identity: that of an underdog. The Gamecocks earned the overall No. 1 seed in 2022 and won every game but one — including the championship — by a double-digit margin. In 2023 they were once again the top No. 1 seed, cruising to the Final Four before suffering an unexpected loss to Iowa. And last season, the Gamecocks added another trophy to their collection without dropping a single game. It’s been a long time since South Carolina was anything other than the de facto favorite to win the national title. Taking on the role of any underdog is yet another way to relieve pressure, but it’s not one Staley’s team is interested in.
“Honestly, I don’t think we look at ourselves as underdogs,” Johnson said. “I think we’re going to come, bring our A-game. Everybody here wants to win.”
Don’t let the coordinated dances or the endless laughter fool you. This is still a South Carolina basketball team.
“Maybe we don’t act the way people expect us to act,” Tac said. “But we aren’t thinking about TikTok or anything like that when we are on the court. When it’s time to lock in, we lock in.”
