SAN ANTONIO, Texas — If the South Carolina team were to bump into Stanford away from the Alamodome, there is no doubt the Gamecocks would make friends with the Cardinal.
On the court, it's a totally different mindset and that would be true even if a trip to the national championship were not on the line.
But it is so the intensity will be heightened. Still, it is fascinating for the head coach to see how this team has locked in on the job at hand with a degree of focus greater than even the 2017 national championship team.
"They're super-competitive, much more competitive than the 2017 team," said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley.
"Day to day, they get after it. Once they leave the premises, they become really nice. But losing in not in their DNA and they don't like that feeling of losing. So the more games we lost, the better we got. The more games we lost and the way we lost - we had to make a change. You have to be able to pivot and tell your players what's happening out there and what's preventing us from winning and what will prevent us from winning a national championship. That's when the light comes on. 'Ding, ding, ding'. They're here to win a national championship.That's what they're driven to do".
The Gamecocks will face Stanford Friday night at 6:00 p.m. for a spot in Sunday's national championship game.
