ALBANY — With beneath a minute left in a two-point recreation on Friday night time — with an Elite Eight berth on the road — Indiana had abruptly pushed undefeated No. 1 South Carolina to the brink within the fourth quarter to beat a 17-point halftime deficit. However South Carolina’s head coach Daybreak Staley had one factor on her thoughts: Raven Johnson.
She’d seen the look in Johnson’s eyes in these previous few minutes because the lead shrunk. It was a glance she had seen earlier than from her gamers all through the season.
“I knew she wasn’t going to allow us to lose,” Staley stated. “I knew she was going to do one thing.”
That one thing ended up being just a few issues. The primary was a midrange jumper within the lane to place the Gamecocks up 72-65, the second was a three-pointer off of a put up kickout from Kamilla Cardoso to push the lead again to 5 factors, and the final was making the second of two makes an attempt on the free-throw line to maintain it at a two-possession recreation.
Each the look and the stretch of play was one thing Staley noticed coming from this crew throughout follow earlier than and throughout the common season.
The Gamecocks changed all 5 starters from final yr’s run to the Closing 4, sending 4 onto the WNBA. 4 of this yr’s starters have been on the bench for the loss to Iowa, together with Johnson.
She was on the court docket close to the highest of the arc throughout that recreation, surveying the protection with the ball and no person else round her. Hawkeyes star Caitlin Clark noticed her and waved her off, in a second that went viral on-line.
Johnson handed the ball out.
Now, she says that second is the perfect factor that’s ever occurred to her.
“It simply instructed me to get within the health club, work on my weaknesses,” Johnson stated.
That’s the mentality Staley is on the lookout for from this roster. The Gamecocks have had particular person moments like Cardoso’s late 3-pointer in opposition to Tennessee within the SEC Match and Johnson stepping up in opposition to Indiana, however Staley stated the follow health club is the place she feels most comfy about her crew.
She credit the crew’s follow squad, dubbed “The Highlighters” for serving to gasoline that aggressive drive. They beat the Gamecocks in these follow settings. Quite a bit.
“It doesn’t matter what the pace of our opponents are, they’re a lot faster,’ Staley stated “They do it at a a lot sooner tempo. So that they’ve allowed us to see the sport slightly slower if groups aren’t as fast as our Highlighters.”
Staley has appeared on in follow, throughout video games and off the court docket as her crew has come collectively. She’s coached them up, sure, however observed they’ve risen collectively in their very own solution to overcome obstacles.
“We prefer to suppose we, as coaches, have a hand in who the id of our crew is,” Staley stated. “This crew created that. They created it themselves.”
Because the lead over Indiana dwindled within the second half, she strayed from calling a timeout for changes. Why? As a result of she knew the Gamecocks might do it themselves.
“They don’t need to lose, and so they have an uncanny manner of figuring it out, participant by participant,” Staley stated. “They’re not fazed by dropping a 22-point lead or happening double digits. They’re not fazed by it. It’s unbelievable to see how they deal with opposed conditions all season lengthy.”
The employees known as a play to get the ball to Cardoso, who drew additional defenders from the Hoosiers that left Raven Johnson open on the proper aspect of the three-point arc.
Johnson received her toes set and fired, hitting a clutch three-pointer that each one however put the sport away minutes later.
That’s not the form of shot Johnson would’ve had the arrogance to take final yr, she stated. Because the clock dwindled down and the lead did with it, she reminded herself of how final yr ended and the way that felt.
It’s a shot she’s taken numerous occasions earlier than, throughout and after follow. Her coaches and teammates have watched her get a quota of photographs up each single day, and everybody on the Gamecocks aspect of the ground felt good when it left her hand.
Te-Hina Paopao, a switch addition from Oregon, stated she knew the shot was getting into as quickly as Johnson caught the ball.
“When Raven’s in rhythm and she or he is aware of that the ball is coming to her she units her toes and when she’s in rhythm, it’s going to go in,” Paopao stated.
Johnson credit her teammates for the arrogance it took to take it, the type she lacked throughout final yr’s run. But when she wasn’t the one to shoot, she would’ve had confidence in any of Paopao, Corridor or any of the opposite Gamecocks taking it.
“We uplift everybody as a crew regardless of who it’s,” Johnson stated.
