Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] This episode of Cox talking Gamecocks women's basketball are national champions. I give my thoughts and analysis onto the game and the incredible season that Don Staley and team have had. I also share weekend recaps from baseball and other USC sports. Okay, here we go.
[00:01:00] Okay. Welcome to Epic episode 232 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. And how about this? Championship Monday, y'all ain't nothing better than waking up as national champions. I can't believe it. If you hear my voice a little raspy, it's because I was simply celebrating.
[00:01:30] Hence, also why this episode dropped a little bit later than normal. But my goodness, what an incredible accomplishment for the ladies. What an incredible moment for Gamecock Nation national champs. I mean, wow, what a run. What a year. What a moment. Just seeing all of the reactions from around Gamecock Nation, it's just so, so special. Like, starting at tea Coop on campus with the kids and students just storming it and celebrating in the water, just having the time of their lives, seeing everywhere else around Columbia, the watch parties at home team and things like that. But then some of the wider ranging effects of this win in the celebration. You know, I follow a lot of the different alumni associations, Tampa Bay, New Orleans, Atlanta, Chicago, all of them celebrating so, so much. And then here, my hometown, New York, the frickin Empire State building was lit up, garnet in black, to celebrate the gamecocks win. And it was just so, so amazing. The vibes and speaking to everybody and then just the support. I'm sure y'all got the same. I had people texting me, congratulations, friends, family, people that didn't even watch college sports. And this tournament in specifically, rather, it really brought a lot of new eyeballs, I think, to women's basketball, specifically college women's basketball, where South Carolina is a part of that. And there was a reporter at Don Staley's press conference who, you know, brought that up. It's like, yes, Caitlin Clark, she did incredible things, and she deserves all of the credit for bearing that pressure on her every, every game. And her success and her game brought so many new eyeballs to the sport. LSU, what they did last year into this year and all the hoopla that they bring, good, bad, or otherwise, like that brought eyeballs to the sport. But then South Carolina is also part of that, where you have a consistently great program, you know, led by a great player and Dawn Staley. So this moment that women's basketball is having is really something. And hopefully, it's just the beginning and hopefully it continues to grow. But you're even seeing it like I think it was Vogue magazine wrote an article about this game. Vogue magazine, that's a fashion magazine. And one of the writers was saying something along the lines of that they were a sports cynic before this year and this tournament run made them a fan for life. So very, very cool. I'm going to get into the game, of course, in a second here. Touch on baseball. But before I do, let's do a quick weekend recap from around USC Athletics here starting on Friday, softball lost to Mississippi State six nothing. Men's tennis lost to Kentucky four to three, but women's tennis beat Kentucky 40. It's going to be a theme here Saturday. Softball lost to Mississippi State again for zero. Beach volleyball had themselves a nice day, beating Tennessee Martin four to one and then beating UNCW four to one. Sunday, softball beat Mississippi State three to one. Men's tennis lost to Vandy four to three. Women's tennis beat Vandy four to three. And then beach volleyball beat Mercer five nothing and also morehead state five nothing.
[00:05:26] But with the recap done, the main thing that I've already talked about a little bit here is the women's basketball game, national champs as the ladies beat Iowa 87 to 75 in the championship game to bring home the third national title for the program, for Don Staley and company. And remarkably, this is the first undefeated season in school history, 38 and, oh, I'm sure you all have seen the ad and graphic going around from Under Armour. Probably probably the best thing under Armour has done for South Carolina, but it's, you win some, lose none. I love that. I absolutely love that. And it's just so cool. And it's really, truly remarkable considering some of the great teams that South Carolina has fielded. For this to be the first undefeated season in school history, for Don Staley to do that is just incredible. And it's kind of funny because of all the excitement around the sport at other programs, Iowa, LSU, Southern Cal, like, it almost felt like this undefeated season was going under the radar for the most part. And I think it ultimately helped the team one, maybe a little less pressure, right, where not everybody who's talking about the sport is talking about this undefeated streak, right? There were other storylines going on. But then also I do think that going into this game on Sunday, if you polled neutral fans, I would be willing to bet that 70% of them or more were probably pulling for Iowa just because I think Caitlin Clark built up that much of a fan base for how amazing of a player she is. And you can talk about, you know, whatever, she is an incredible player and she deserves that credit. And Don Staley made sure she got some of that credit for sure. But I think that also could have helped fuel this team where Don Staley could legitimately sit down and look at her players in the eyes and say, hey, like the country wants the other team. You have every reason to have this chip on your shoulder to go out there and do this. And then on top of it, you know, there's all the history between these two teams, this to these two groups rather, where met in the final four, you know, now two seasons ago.
[00:08:16] And then this season, this past season, you're meeting again on the biggest stage in the national championship game. So it really is just amazing. Like you cannot say enough good things here, but looking at this game a little bit more closely. Started off not on the best foot.
[00:08:38] It really did not. What was it, seven no run, 100 run to start the game. Iowa had, Clark had a couple of big shots and you know, looking back on it every time things weren't going right for Carolina, you know, it was the first couple of minutes, it felt like forever, but I was screaming, timeout, timeout, timeout.
[00:09:02] Dawn did not take a timeout.
[00:09:05] She weathered that storm at the start of the game and leaned on the trust that she has in her players, but also her experience in having coached that big game before, knowing that it is a game of runs.
[00:09:23] You're not going to not score any points. You have to just manage this. And she did not call a timeout. The players got it together. They woke up, they shipped away and chipped away and then were well within striking distance when the first quarter ended.
[00:09:39] And then a play that is huge that maybe is getting overlooked here is the steal by Raven Johnson at the half, right before the half to push the lead to three. And if that doesnt sum up the attitude and the intensity that Raven Johnson had for this game, I don't know what does. Caitlyn Clark was bringing the ball up, maybe a little lackadaisical. Raven got the steal. I think one of four steals by Raven ran away easy layup, pushed it to three. Because if that doesn't happen, there is a chance that Iowa is actually leading going into the half. So yes, South Carolina had all the momentum because they came all the way back. They were up by one before that last possession there.
[00:10:27] But then it really solidified that South Carolina is here to play and we're only getting better and then that leads me into my next point here of the defensive game plan for Caitlyn Clark.
[00:10:40] Yes, she started the game out incredibly hot, but then she went cold for sort of those middle quarters there, ended up with 30 points. But Don Staley talked about, like, how was she going to get those right? You're not going to stop Caitlin Clark from scoring, but can you make her inefficient?
[00:11:01] Clark went ten for 28 from the field, five for 13 from three. So you're holding her under 50% in both those. And that's exactly what you needed to do. But even the little things of literally face guarding Clark, it felt like every time, whether it was bree hall or Raven Johnson, whoever was on her, the quite literal hand in the face, just to make her a little bit uncomfortable.
[00:11:32] And then the game plan of studying her moves and her tendencies and things like that, putting more athletic players on Clark, recognizing that you're going to have to maybe play off someone else to provide help. It was phenomenal, and it was exactly what needed to be done. And it threw Clark off enough in that middle period of the game that allowed South Carolina to come back and then ultimately build up the lead. It was just masterful.
[00:12:04] And then we have to talk about the benchmark, 37 bench points from South Carolina compared to zero. A goose egg, a bagel from Iowa.
[00:12:15] That is remarkable. So there's two things we're going to take from that. One, South Carolina's bench, which we knew all year, is a difference maker, right? And it showed up again on the biggest of stages.
[00:12:29] Malaysia ful Wiley and Tessa Johnson could. Could be starting at other schools, but they play for South Carolina and are willing to sacrifice that to come off the bench. And because of that, it allows Don Staley to have that deep rotation.
[00:12:44] Ashlyn Watkins as well. Saniya Fagan as well. Right? Everybody had big moments, but also the defense of whether it was the bench players or the starters to hold. I was benched to zero.
[00:13:01] It just shows the level of intensity that they could not match.
[00:13:07] And if you're getting zero points from your bench, that is a darn hard way to win a game.
[00:13:15] Also, when we look at 51 rebounds compared to 29 from Iowa, that was what we were hoping for. Right? Like when I'm watching Iowa, as exciting as Caitlin Clark is, you look at their four or five, they are not that big.
[00:13:34] Even when you're looking at maybe Chloe Kitts or Ashton Watkins, who plays more the forward, we're still bigger than them. And then that's before you're talking about Camila Cardozo, who was a legitimate center. So you really hoped when you were going to play Iowa that you were going to be able to out rebound them handedly. That was the case. Because of that, the second chance points heavily favored South Carolina.
[00:14:03] And ultimately really late in the game, not allowing Iowa to get those second chance shots made the difference, really, because you held Iowa scoreless for the final four minutes. I mean, that is crazy.
[00:14:19] Iowa was chipping away. You know, at one point you're thinking in the fourth quarter, like maybe we, we kind of had this here. Iowa chipped away. They brought it within five with a little over four minutes to go. And because of who they have on their team, a five point lead is nothing. Because in the blink of an eye, that can be a one point deficit for you.
[00:14:42] So for the team to level up and hold Iowa scoreless for four minutes of the national title game at the end of the game, it just showed the fresh legs that South Carolina was able to have because of the rotations, the intensity, the game planning, the coaching, the higher athleticism to get those boards.
[00:15:05] It is truly, truly incredible.
[00:15:08] And then we have to shout out Tessa Johnson, I mean, career high in the national championship game. Are you kidding me? That is so, so incredible. And she's a player who, you know, here and there, you know, she'd have a nice game here, nice game there. You'd see her getting better and better. She's got the three point shot, she got the mid range shot. Great from the free throw line.
[00:15:32] Solid defensive player again, all as a freshman.
[00:15:36] And then you saw it a little bit in SEC championship game, little bit in the tournament or SEC championship, you know, tournament. Like, it's just, ah, it was an incredible, incredible moment for Tessa Johnson. And the story of this season is just really a remarkable one. You know, I've said it a thousand times talking about this team here, but we have to keep saying it. This was a year where going into it, the national pundits and Gamecock fans alike, myself included, felt that a step back was likely and that it was going to be a little bit of a rebuild year where the team's going to be still good. Like, how could they not be? But I don't know if they're going to be great.
[00:16:27] But from the very first game, and it's funny now to think of it right, it feels like forever ago, but also not at the same time. That very first game in Paris against Notre Dame where it was clear this team was still very, very good because you had experience and you had the leadership still on that team from players like a Camila Cardozo, Bree hall. Right then the addition of Tahina. Pow pow.
[00:16:59] Was a difference maker. Raven Johnson had improved her game drastically.
[00:17:04] You sprinkle in more experience from Ashton Watkins and Chloe Kitts and then some exciting freshmen in Malaysia. Full Wiley and then Tessa Johnson later on in the year as she develops.
[00:17:18] Instead of taking a step back, this team jumped forward and did things that not even some of the legends of the program had done in going undefeated.
[00:17:29] Going undefeated for the first time in school history. And then the very last stop on that journey was slaying a giant of the sport and redeeming themselves for last season, all in one shot. You know that everyone involved in that program who was there in that final four loss against Iowa, from Don Staley to Raven to Camilla, to everybody who was involved in that, you know that they wanted another crack at that because we know and they know that that game shouldn't have gone the way it did. But that's life. That's sports. And I think that's what you saw in the emotion that Don Staley had after the game. It was just this sense of relief that as good as we are, we have to prove it against the team that beat us when we felt we were the best in the sport and they had that chance and you had to go to the very end. It wasn't like you're playing Iowa in the Elite Eight or the final four.
[00:18:35] You got to the very end. You're on the precipice of greatness. And here's the one team, the one person, really, who stopped you before, and can you now be on the right side of it? And they were. And it's incredible. And I think I even saw that Raven Johnson gave the little bit of the net that she cut down. She gave it to Aaliyah Boston. This is for you.
[00:18:57] And you just saw that love that just transcends years spent in the program. It was just an incredibly special season. And I am so proud of everyone in the program. I'm proud to be a fan of USC. We're national champs. We are national champs here. Let's, let's. Let's do some player highlights here from this game. One for the road here. Tessa Johnson with 19 points. Again, just incredible. Camila Cardozo, 15 points, 17 rebounds. Difference maker Tahina. Pow pow. 14 points. Kind of came on late. Chloe Kitts. A quiet but very solid day here. Eleven points and ten rebounds. This week is going to be filled with celebrations, storytelling, interviews, lots of great merchandise. I already got my eye on a couple shirts, but enjoy this moment. Soak it in. Really. I mean, Don, she has built a dynasty, you know, two national championships in three years. But even with that, you know, these moments don't come around often and they don't stay forever. So really enjoy it. Soak it in. National champs. Let's freakin go. So proud of this team. So very proud to be a Gamecock. It's so much fun. That is so much fun.
[00:20:25] But let's quickly touch on baseball here. It's funny. As much excitement as basketball was going on, there was a baseball series this weekend here. But now that basketball season is officially over, moving forward, I will be a little bit more detailed in my coverage of baseball season. Might also break out my Gamecock facts and trivia calendar soon. For those of you who know, it's a very exciting time, but for today, I'm going to quickly just recap this series. We're all still focused on the celebration of women's basketball, so spark notes from this weekend. The Gamecocks lost the series to Texas A and M, but were able to win the finale on Sunday to avoid the sweep. I actually think Carolina is undefeated in series finale games this year, so that's a positive. I'll take that. And then Carolina won on Sunday to the score of six to five. So not the type of weekend we were hoping for. A and M is very good. They're very highly ranked. Carolina still searching for some consistency here. And up next for the Gamecocks is a midweek game against North Carolina in Charlotte. So fingers crossed because that place has not been the best for us in the past. But as Carolina does search for that consistency, this is a tricky midweek game to do that. So whoever gets the start needs to be able to provide solid innings because you got to be able to at least get your team to there. The back half of our bullpen is strong. Hopefully the bats can stay hot from Sunday, hopefully on the right side of the one. But that wraps up this episode. Y'all. Please follow me on social media Twitter x is Cox gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all go cops.
