Dawn Staley letting herself imagine winning a national title

When Dawn Staley took over as coach of the South Carolina women’s basketball program in 2008, it was hard for her to envision the Gamecocks ever being in position to win a national title. She can visualize hoisting the championship trophy now.

The Gamecocks will face Mississippi State in the national title game on Sunday, seeking the first national championship in program history.

Staley remembers the tough times and is appreciative of the opportunity.

“It just didn’t seem like we connected with the players, and it didn’t seem like the players connected with us because we were very serious about our craft,” Staley said of her early years in Columbia. “Basketball is a lifestyle for us.”

USC won its first Final Four game in program history on Friday, topping Stanford 62-53, and is now 11-1 on the season against ranked foes.

Next up for Staley and South Carolina is trying to win the national title. Staley, in her ninth season at USC, is allowing herself to imagine what winning on Sunday would be like.

“You’ve got to envision it. You’ve got to see it. You’ve got to claim it,” she said. “I know what’s going to take place is giving God the glory. You don’t do things like this by yourself. I do think there’s a higher power in this team. I think there’s something divine taking place and I always try to give credit where credit is due.”

Mississippi State is a familiar opponent; the Gamecocks beat the Bulldogs twice this season.

The Gamecocks earned a 64-61 home win over Mississippi State in January and topped the Bulldogs 59-49 last month in the SEC Tournament in Greenville.

USC’s familiarity with Mississippi State makes preparation easier in some ways, but in other ways, it’s more difficult because the Bulldogs also are also familiar with many of USC’s tendencies.

“They know you just as much as we know them,” junior A’ja Wilson said. “We have seen them so many times that they probably know us better then we know ourselves. It is going to be tougher because you do not change up anything around this time of the month, but at the same time, something is going to have to change because they know you that well. It is going to be a very competitive game.”

Mississippi State stunned UConn on Friday as junior guard Morgan William made a pull-up jumper at the buzzer in overtime to give the Bulldogs a 66-64 win and end the Huskies’ 111-game winning streak.

William’s shot led to a wild celebration on the court, but Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer said he doesn’t expect his team to have any problem getting in the right state of mind for Sunday’s game.

“I had to go in the locker room and throw water on my kids. They’re really grounded,” Schaefer said. “That’s the way they’ve approached it all year long. They have a real good understanding of there’s another one down the line that’s even bigger.”

Mississippi State knocked off No. 1 seeds in back-to-back games, topping Baylor, 94-85, to reach the Final Four prior to shocking UConn. The Bulldogs can claim their first national title in program history by topping a No. 1 seed for the third consecutive game.

“When we started this back in September, there were seven championships on our schedule,” Schaefer said. “We won four of them. We’ve lost out on two in the regular season SEC Championship and the conference tournament championship. We were involved in both of them within a week. Now we’ve got a chance at the national championship.”

This story was originally published April 2, 2017 at 12:16 AM with the headline "Dawn Staley letting herself imagine winning a national title."