Dawn Staley Rips South Carolina's Critics, Media Coverage: 'We're Not Bar Fighters'

Following a 77-73 loss to Iowa in the Final Four, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley took exception to how her squad has been characterized this season.

"We're not bar fighters. We're not thugs. We're not monkeys. We're not street fighters," she told reporters after the game. "I do think that that's sometimes brought into the game, and it hurts."

Staley also called out a remark from a "national writer" she heard secondhand:

"Some of the people in the media, when you're gathering in public, you're saying things about our team, and you're being heard, and it's being brought back to me. And these are the people that write nationally for our sport. So you can not like our team and you can not like me. But when you say things that you probably should be saying in your home on the phone or texting out in public and you're being heard, and you are a national writer for our sport – it just confirms what we already know. So watch what you say when you're in public and you're talking about my team in particular."

A stifling defense was a hallmark for the Gamecocks this season. Their 51.1 points allowed per game were the third-fewest in Division I, and they ranked first in Her Hoop Stats' defensive rating (66.9). South Carolina also out-rebounded opponents 49.5-29.1 on average.

It's a style opposing teams have come to expect from Staley and her teams.

"You may not like how we play the game, you may not like it, that's the way we play," she said. "That's the way I coach."

There's no question South Carolina's defense comes with a level of physicality that can overwhelm opponents. But descriptions of the Gamecocks and their approach have gone over the top this season.

UConn head coach Geno Auriemma criticizing the officiating in the Huskies' 81-77 loss to South Carolina in February, focusing on the lack of fouls drawn by Lou Lopez Sénéchal. He said it was "not basketball anymore."

While Auriemma wasn't focusing specifically on the Gamecocks, the remark didn't sit well with Staley.

Her comment about her players not being "bar fighters" was, however, a direct reference to something said by Iowa head coach Lisa Bluder prior to the Final Four. Bluder praised the Gamecocks' rebounding and said jostling for position under the boards was like "going to a bar fight."

While Bluder likely meant nothing untoward, some thought the observation flew a little too closely to the tropes that have historically been applied to Black athletes and other athletes of color.

"I think when we look at it, it's like we're always the aggressor, when I don't feel like that's the case," Gamecocks star Aliyah Boston said after Friday's game.