WBB: Id rather beat UConn

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"I'd rather beat UConn."

- Dawn Staley

Dawn Staley said that before her first game against Clemson. She was asked what it would mean to beat her new arch-rival, but Staley was thinking about a game a month later, when South Carolina played host to Connecticut. Staley hasn't had many missteps since becoming the coach of the Gamecocks, but this was one, and she regretted it for a while.

The comment was evidence of just how much Staley had misevaluated the needs of her new program and the talent she had on hand. Back in 2008, Staley's inaugural season, South Carolina and Clemson were both middling programs. Actually, middling is what South Carolina needed to get to.

The Gamecocks went 10-18 that year, 2-12 in conference. They were bad. And that is why the comment was so ill-advised. The Gamecocks had no chance of beating UConn. They had no chance of even coming close. The Gamecocks needed to beat Clemson. They needed to beat any decent non-conference opponent, but especially one who they'd face in recruiting and the only opponent most casual fans cared about. South Carolina lost to Clemson that year, and then to UConn as well. But that quote in many ways planted the seeds for Monday night's game.

Clemson beat South Carolina the next season as well, but at that time Staley acknowledge that she made a mistake in dismissing Clemson. When she finally got a win in her third year she knew what it meant in terms of getting her program notice.

"I just wanted to make sure I'm in the group of good coaches," she said. "People in Columbia, South Carolina, want every team to beat Clemson."

Staley had learned something necessary to building the Gamecocks into an elite program. She had to win South Carolina. That meant not only beating Clemson on the court, but in recruiting and the media as well. It is no coincidence that the slide Clemson has experienced in the last few years corresponded with South Carolina's rise. Eight players on South Carolina's roster are from the Palmetto State, with two more from Charlotte. Staley has worked relentlessly to make sure her Gamecocks are part of the community. And yes, that includes embracing the rivalry with Clemson.

South Carolina hasn't lost to Clemson that first win, culminating with a 99-41 rout this year that announced South Carolina's rise to the nation's No. 1 team, a spot it still holds. UConn, the previous No. 1 team, had lost earlier in the week, and South Carolina knew the spot was theirs for the taking. In that game South Carolina didn't just beat Clemson, it toyed with the Tigers. The margin of victory was nearly double the previous largest margin of victory in the series. Nobody played more than 25 minutes, and the starters sat nearly the entire second half.

In a way, Staley got what she wanted in her remark six years earlier. Clemson didn't matter. Staley built her program with instate talent, and South Carolina's third team was better than the Clemson starters. Nobody batted an eye when South Carolina beat Clemson, they just said, "I'd rather beat UConn."

Connecticut is somewhat unique in its relationship with South Carolina in that there basically is none. The schools have played just twice, a home-and-home that culminated with the game Staley's first season. South Carolina has played most of the other powers in women's college basketball since then: Notre Dame (2009), Stanford (2010, twice in 2012), and of course, conference foes Tennessee and Texas A&M.

Geno Auriemma, UConn's legendary coach, is also the rare coach who has not had a long relationship with Staley, who seems to know everyone in the sport. Auriemma was an assistant coach on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team that Staley played for, but he joined the team late and did not work much with Staley. They got to know each other better last summer, when Staley was an assistant to Auriemma on the Team USA FIBA World Championship team.

"We've got a really good relationship," Staley said. "Geno's very smart, intelligent. If you're a young coach, you want to look at what he does to be successful."

In that way, the Huskies have always been something of a far-off opponent, mysterious and challenging. Until this game was arranged, the only way the two would meet would have been deep in the NCAA Tournament. That doesn't mean Staley stopped measuring her program against Auriemma's.

South Carolina lost that game in 2008, 77-48. It doesn't look like it, but that score was an accomplishment for South Carolina. It had cut the loss in half from the year before, a 97-39 drubbing in Storrs. The 2007 game was so lopsided that one of the UConn players insisted after the 2008 game that the two teams hadn't played the year before.

Auriemma was asked after the game how the Gamecocks had improved from the season before. His answer sounded like typical coach-speak, but it also reflected the tenets of Staley's teams to come.

"They are a little more disciplined and a little more deliberate," Auriemma said in 2008. "They were able to stay in the game. Last year I thought once they got behind the game just took off and got away from them and they were never in the game. This group did a better job of remaining connected to the game."

Since then, UConn has maintained its status as royalty in the sport, winning four of the last six national championships, including the last two. Meanwhile, South Carolina rose to the top gradually. The Gamecocks have increased their number of wins each season under Staley, and continued to finish stronger in the SEC, culminating in last season's championship campaign.

Staley has found it increasingly hard to schedule opponents as the program has gotten stronger. This season she finally got a pair of marquee opponents on the schedule in Duke and UConn. South Carolina already beat Duke, and now six years later, she finally has her chance to beat UConn.

"It's a long time coming," Staley said. "A lot of people have been anticipating this moment."

Game notes

This is the first time South Carolina has played in a 1-vs-2 game since 1982, when #2 South Carolina hosted #1 Louisiana Tech. The Lady Techsters won that game 71-58. Connecticut would be the highest-ranked team South Carolina has ever beaten. South Carolina has beaten the No. 3 team three times, most recently in 1993 when it upset Auburn.

UConn has played in 19 1-vs-2 games, going 16-3. But the top-ranked team is 33-20 all-time in such games. If South Carolina wins, it also bodes well for March. The last two teams to beat UConn in a 1-vs-2 game both went on to win the national championship.

Game Information

Who: No. 1 South Carolina at No. 2 Connecticut

When: Monday, Jan. 9, 8 p.m.

Where: Gampel Pavilion, Storrs, Connecticut

TV: ESPN2

Postscript:

The funny thing about the quote that leads this story is that I can't find it anywhere. I vividly remember Staley saying it, and I have numerous references to it in my archives and in quotes from Staley, but not the original quote. It goes to show just how much the program has grown under Staley that she could hold a Carolina-Clemson press conference that has been mostly forgotten by the internet, which remembers everything. Back then, there were three or four reporters, maybe five for a rivalry game. Now there are a dozen reporters and cameras jockeying for position.

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