After Sunday’s 86-70 loss to No. 6 Tennessee, South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and players Tyasha Harris and Alexis Jennings all repeated variations of the same phrase.
“Once A’ja comes back ... ”
Although the No. 9 Gamecocks put up a fight against the high-powered Lady Vols, they became fatigued late and stumbled without the leadership of senior All-American A’ja Wilson, who watched the contest with a pink cast on her leg after injuring her ankle on Thursday.
And while nobody in USC’s program offered Wilson’s absence as an excuse for the defeat, it was undeniable that without her, the Gamecocks are simply not as good a team, and when she returns, Dawn Staley’s squad will be competitive with just about any other program in the country.