USC-LSU fight is old news. Dawn Staley thinks it will have one impact on Friday’s game

The last time the South Carolina and LSU women’s basketball teams shared a basketball court, things got heated.

As they prepare to meet again (5 p.m. Friday, ESPN), Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley stressed that drama is all in the past.

For the uninitiated, the ending of the 2024 SEC Championship game between Staley’s Gamecocks and Kim Mulkey’s Tigers was muddied by an on-court altercation. LSU’s Flau’jae Johnson intentionally fouled USC’s MiLaysia Fulwiley, which led to Johnson shoving USC’s Ashlyn Watkins. And that led to USC’s Kamilla Cardoso pushing Johnson to the ground.

Chaos ensued for about 15 seconds as both benches cleared to defend their respective teammates, but coaches and security personnel ultimately kept things under control.

After a 15-minute discussion, officials decided to eject Cardoso for fighting as well as the entire benches for LSU and USC with the exception of Sania Feagin and Te-Hina Paopao.

South Carolina won the game and the title 79-72.

When addressing local reporters Thursday, Staley was asked if last year’s dust-up provided any extra spark for Friday’s matchup. The fight dominated national headlines then, but Staley said she’s addressed it with this year’s team and it’s all in the past.

Beyond that, her only concern seems to be how it might affect Friday’s officiating.

“We feel like the officiating is going to be on it at the start of the game,” Staley said. “Some of the things that we did in that game, we’re not going to be able to do. Some of the things that (LSU) did, they’re not going to be able to do. So for us, it’s about adjusting to how the officiating is going to be. It’s probably going to be tight. I would if I’m coordinating the officials.

“But I don’t think our teams are in that place, or in that head space.”

Last year’s SEC title game wasn’t too abnormal from a fouls standpoint. There were 16 personal fouls called against USC during that matchup, up two from its average of 14.2 for the entire season. This year, South Carolina is averaging 13.2 personal fouls. LSU had 15 personal fouls in that game last year and averaged 16.4 a game on the year. LSU is averaging 16.8 personal fouls this season.

Veteran guard Raven Johnson, who was among the players able to remain on the floor after the fight in the SEC Championship game, echoed Staley’s sentiments about that game’s impact on 2025. .

“I’d say we left that in the past,” Johnson said. “I mean, you can’t really dwell on what happened last year. It’s a whole new season. It’s a whole new team. We have a whole new team. So we’re just gonna leave that in the past.”

The matchup between the No. 2 Gamecocks (18-1, 6-0 SEC) and No. 5 Tigers (20-0, 5-0 SEC) has turned into a rivalry in recent years, despite South Carolina holding a 16-game winning streak over LSU. With only one conference matchup on the schedule this season between the two teams, Friday’s game holds weight for both teams’ future SEC regular season championship hopes and conference tournament seeding.

South Carolina and LSU are both undefeated in SEC play this season.

“It’s a rivalry,” Staley said. “It’s a game that we must win. We only play them once and you want the tiebreaker advantage. But it’s still just a game. Win or lose, every goal that you have is still in front of you. It makes it a little bit harder, especially when it comes to our conference. Glad it’s at home.”

While it might be just another game, Johnson did acknowledge the hype surrounding it. Despite the tip-off being pushed back a day due to winter weather and ESPN’s “College GameDay” ultimately pulling out for the same reasons — it’s still a nationally televised, top-five matchup.

“It’s good for women’s basketball overall,” Johnson said. “We know there’s gonna be a lot of views. I mean, when you go on social media all you can see is LSU versus South Carolina. The fans, everybody is just talking about it.”