South Carolina Gamecocks Coach Dawn Staley
says two more games!
The month of March may be over, but the Madness of NCAA basketball has one last hurrah this weekend. The Final Four for the women will be played in the frozen tundra that is more generally known as Minneapolis, Minnesota under the Friday night lights of Target Center in the heart of the downtown district on April Fool’s Day, 2022.
The Gamecock women have been ranked #1 in the nation during the 2021-2022 season with a record of 33 wins and 2 losses. They will play the Louisville Cardinals (29-4) in the semi-final.
Pretty and I love women’s basketball – the game is part of our inherited DNA in our respective families that became a jointly shared passion in the Dawn Staley era at our alma mater. Coach Staley has ignited not only the University of South Carolina fan base but also the love of the sport across the nation with attendance increases for women’s basketball programs everywhere. Thank you, Coach. Onward.
Ella and me going into Greensboro,
North Carolina Regional this past weekend
(first weekend overnite for Pretty and me with our granddaughter)
Ella’s favorite discovery at the game was Lay’s Potato Chips
(she is her Nana’s granddaughter for sure –
Pretty never met a potato chip she didn’t love)
Ella’s mother Pretty Too a/k/a Caroline told Pretty yesterday that when she rocked Ella to sleep the night before, Ella whispered defense, defense. Caroline was so startled she asked Ella what she was saying, and Ella shouted DEFENSE. That’s our girl. She’s going to be a true Gamecock.
Special shoutouts to our basketball buddies who have shared another special season with the Gamecock women, Pretty and me: Garner, JD, Brian, Joan, Robert, Susan, Chris, Pat, Number One Son Drew, 2.5 year old Ella, the Upstate Double Ds Darlene and Dawne…Brenda, Tony, Baby Dawn and her mothers in front of us, Jennifer R and Lisa – you all cheered throughout the journey. It’s been a great ride.
I would be in big trouble if I failed to mention the men’s basketball teams also have their own Final Four this weekend, and my most faithful reader Dick Hubbard’s North Carolina Tar Heels will play archrival Duke tomorrow night in their semi-final in New Orleans. This is the first year in our 40-year friendship both Dick and I have had teams we passionately pull for in the Final Four. When he called me this morning to remind me, I said I hoped this didn’t mean one of us might be checking the score from St. Peter’s gate.
Whether you follow the Final Four with your personal bracket or don’t follow basketball at all, enjoy the first weekend in April and please stay tuned.
Go Gamecocks!
I'll Call It Like I See It 
I’m here for the chip eating. Love Ella’s form. Scores a 10 from Nanine in Pennsylvania!!
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Ann, I swear I get so tickled when she finds another yummy – she just has such gusto!! She’s a chip off her Nana’s block…
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Sheila,
I am a relative newcomer to your blog, and I get excited every time one of your posts comes up!
This is a big weekend for me, too. Love those Gamecock Women!!! And the BB team of my heart will always be Duke💙. Go, Blue Devils!!
Louise Womble
>
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Hi, Louise – good for you for loving our Gamecock women!! They’re really terrific young women, I believe. And boy, Coach Staley is awesome.
Welcome to the blog – I’m always happy to have another friend in cyberspace!
Please stay tuned.
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Dawn Staley is a super star and I mean nationwide. That Duke NC game is the game of the century (it could be argued).
I’m so excited at the prospect of our Ladies winning the national championship.
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Yes! I can finally breathe again – Pretty and I were wrecks during that game tonight!
That Duke NC game will be historic regardless of the winner…Coach K’s last season. NC is drooling at the prospect, I’m sure.
When we went to the Regional last weekend, I sat next to a woman and her husband from Virginia. I asked her what her connection was to the Gamecocks, and she said heck no, not the Gamecocks: it’s Dawn Staley. You’re right – she has become a national star on many levels. I hope we can keep her.
Go Gamecocks – beat whoever Sunday night!
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Oh WOW, I laughed soooo hard. Defense, defense!!! I love your passion for the game, too! Hah. Aren’t kids great at keeping you feeling young(er)?!
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They really are, Luanne…fingers crossed for you and the gardener.
It’s so fun to hear what Ella’s little mind is mulling over. Pretty and I laughed and laughed for almost every minute when we had her for the weekend.
The one exception was when we begged her to go to sleep. She was a tough negotiator!
Pretty said she was just like her daddy when he was her age!
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