Last Sunday, No. 7 UConn marched into Columbia and did the unthinkable. They successfully silenced Colonial Life Arena, ending No. 4 South Carolina’s jaw-dropping 71-game home win streak. With an 87-58 victory, the Huskies proved they are a team to beat in March. Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, on the other hand, struggled with the loss. It has been a couple of days since the defeat and the head coach is trying to make her peace with it, doubling down on one thing.

“Yeah, the common theme is we just didn’t play like a resemblance of who we are,” she said on Wednesday as shared by Matt Dowell. It was a sentiment she had shared previously. According to her, “The team that took the floor against UConn really wasn’t our team.” 

South Carolina’s loss largely came down to poor shooting, rebounding struggles, and an inability to generate efficient offense. The Gamecocks shot just 37.7% from the field, while UConn had a 43.7% accuracy. But the biggest disparity came from beyond the arc. South Carolina made only three of their 17 attempts. Not just that—the Huskies also dominated the boards, grabbing 48 total rebounds to the Gamecocks’ 29. They failed to convert turnovers too, recording 4 of 10.

That did not seem like the same team Staley had led all season. While the bench once again outdid the starters, thanks to Joyce Edwards, 58 was still their lowest total yet. But Staley clearly isn’t dwelling on it. Despite acknowledging the brutal defeat, the head coach refused to sound the alarm just yet.

“Everything’s not broken. It really isn’t. We just got to get back to our good habits, playing the way we need to play,” she adds.

Even after the loss against Texas, Staley would rather soak up the Super Bowl excitement than dwell on the loss. And the next game bounce back they did. With a 101-63 win to Florida, the Gamecocks recorded their second 100-point performance of the season while Edwards closed with a career-high 28-point performance.

Staley knew it was going to be a challenge to take on the Huskies and she has had lessons to take away. This lands the Gamecocks 23-3 overall, 4th in nationally, and even lower in the power rankings.

UConn squander gamecocks’ rankings, but Dawn Staley isn’t fazed

With their third Quad-1 loss of the season, the Gamecocks find themselves dropping down the rankings. From 1st to 2 in NET Rankings, 4th to 6th in AP Poll, and 2nd to 6th on the ESPN power rankings. In the 2 defeats that came in an 8-game stretch, the Gamecocks were outrebounded by 26 and could only manage to shoot 8-of-36 from the 3-point range. UConn shot 13 alone. It was the defense that cost them and Dawn Staley knows it well.

“It was from taking bad shots, and it created an imbalance on the defensive side,” she said after the game. But as she notes, not everything’s broken. South Carolina still holds the no.1 seed in NCAA Tournament committee’s first in-season reveal of the top 16, with a chance to host a post-season home game. They could face Illinois (No. 8), South Dakota State (No. 9) and the winner of a First Four game between UNCG and High Point (No. 16) as per the predictions.

But for now the team has got 4 more teams to beat –1 ranked — in the regular season and take on the SEC battle against LSU and Texas, who have been unstoppable. The loss to UConn was sure a wake up call, but Staley is only looking to improve with what she has. “Staley says they’re not going to change who they are, etc, no wholesale changes,” South Carolina reported Lulu Keisen revealed.

The Gamecocks face Arkansas next in their second-last home game of the regular season.