The No. 3-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks delivered one of their most dominant performances of the 2025-26 NCAA season against Tennessee. But for head coach Dawn Staley, the biggest takeaway from the 93-50 win wasn’t just the 43-point margin; it was their shift in defensive strategy that made it possible.

For a program built on relentless man-to-man pressure, Staley and her squad shocked everyone when they switched to a 2-3 zone in the second quarter of the game. And the Lady Vols had no answer. However, during a recent appearance on SEC This Morning, coach Staley admitted the shift wasn’t easy for her.

“It hurt my heart. It hurts my heart big time. I think I told someone that’s more zone than we played in my twenty-five- year career as a coach, like combined,” she said. “Never play that much zone. Never like, never a possession here or there. But then you look at your players, and all that we do is personnel-based. So I prefer man, but if we can accomplish the same thing, not get into foul trouble, still rebound the ball at a high clip.”

She further added, “It’s a really good changeup for what we’re used to doing, and it’s probably a lot less exhausting for our players. So they probably seemed like they got more energy to do other things when we’re actually not chasing people off screens and just being ultraconnected and communicating and just linking up. They found some real comfort and confidence in it.”

Even if Dawn Staley is not a zone person, the fact is, that strategy worked perfectly. The Zone defense pushed the Lady Vols to settle for 3-point shots, and that’s where they crumbled.

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With entry inside the paint denied, Kim Caldwell’s squad shot under 23% from three-point range. Moreover, as they were forced to stay outside, the Lady Vols attempted just five free throws compared to South Carolina’s 20. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks shot a staggering 69.2% from the field, which went down as their highest shooting percentage in program history in an SEC game.

But what ultimately convinced Staley to stick with the zone wasn’t just the numbers; it was her players’ response to it.

“It’s pretty cool that our players really enjoy. It goes to show if your players enjoy doing something and it’s what the coach desires are, you got to go with it, no matter how much man-to-man I like. And I will never become a full-time zone coach, but it can be in our back pocket just to give us a little bit different look. Nowadays, the teams are so good that you need something to keep somebody off balance, and the zone for us was that against Tennessee,” Dawn Staley added.

For a coach who has long trusted man-to-man defense as the foundation of her program, her willingness to pivot to a different strategy speaks volumes about how much she cares for her team to perform well. And with another tough matchup ahead, that added layer of flexibility could prove just as valuable as the win itself.

Dawn Staley Embraces “Win, Lose, or Draw” Approach Before LSU Clash

As South Carolina turns its page to Baton Rouge, they enter this matchup at 24–2 overall and 10–1 in SEC play, with their only losses coming against No. 4 Texas and a road stumble at Oklahoma. But they’ve already positioned themselves comfortably in the national conversation. So, as they get ready to face Kim Mulkey’s Tigers, Dawn Staley has made it clear that the outcome of this game doesn’t matter to her, from a Selection Sunday standpoint.

“Win, lose, or draw, this game doesn’t hurt us,” she said.

However, her mindset is backed by their performance in this season, where South Carolina has been one of the most balanced teams in the country, averaging over 88 points per game while allowing just 55.7.

Even while navigating injuries, they’ve continued stacking dominant performances, including the 43-point dismantling of Tennessee. Still, Baton Rouge presents a different challenge.

LSU leads the nation in scoring at 96.6 points per game and will have home-court advantage inside the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. Even ESPN Analytics slightly favors the Tigers, giving them a 53.8% chance to win.

But their history tilts heavily toward Columbia, where South Carolina has won 17 straight meetings against LSU and holds an 18–5 edge in the Staley era.

As a result, the Gamecocks aren’t walking into Baton Rouge with desperation; they’re walking in with confidence. And when a team ranked No. 3 in the country plays free of panic and armed with a newly unveiled defensive wrinkle, it often becomes even more dangerous.