Dawn Staley's quote on South Carolina’s defense should scare teams everywhere

If someone had told South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley in the first quarter of USC's matchup against Clemson that her team would win the game 77-45, she might have had a hard time believing them. The Gamecocks fell down 17-12 in the second quarter, and then suddenly, the offense picked up to go on a 17-0 run, but the defense also found ways to shut it down.

With the type of win streak that South Carolina is on right now, it makes sense that teams are bringing everything they have against the Gamecocks. Everyone wants to slay the giant and be the first one to hand this team a loss and break that win streak and that is something Staley is highly aware of.

"I think sometimes when you’re getting everybody’s best at the beginning of the game, and sometimes we get out of sorts, and sometimes we’re probably more tight than we need to be," Staley said in her postgame press conference.

It is natural for any team to start out slow and a little tight, and for South Carolina, some of the players on the court are still dealing with some sort of injury or have sat for a game or two to start the season. The game against Clemson was the first time Staley had her whole squad healthy and a bench full of players to choose from.

The thing that makes this team so scary is once they get hot on either offense or defense, that's when the game gets out of hand for opposing teams. Once Staley's squad is able to get locked in on defense, it doesn't matter how much time is left in the game, it's over then.

"Once we settle in, I mean, we can see things coming at us, and we can make adjustments on the fly," Staley said.

A team that can make adjustments on the fly, either with or without a timeout, is dangerous, and with how well this South Carolina team plays, other teams don't need yet another thing to worry about.

In the SEC, South Carolina currently sits in the middle of the pack when it comes to defensive rankings at No. 9 allowing an average of 53.6 points per game to opposing teams. However, the Gamecocks are dominating on the boards with an average of 47.6 rebounds per game.

With the whole squad healthy again, Stlaye can truly start to get where she wants to be with anyone on the court. With what she said about her team being able to make adjustments on the fly and her team getting stronger, everyone in college basketball should be put on notice.