Dawn Staley opens up on stopping Caitlin Clark's "most dangerous" ability in 2024 national championship win

Dawn Staley has a history against former Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark. Staley and her Gamecocks faced Clark multiple times in March Madness over the years, including in the 2024 National Championship.

Despite a rivalry with Clark, Staley has always spoken highly of her and believes that she will be among the greatest to play in the WNBA.

Staley sat down with Kylie Kelce on the latest episode of "Not Gonna Lie" and spoke about Caitlin Clark. Kelce asked Staley about the best player she ever coached against in college. The three-time national champion coach claimed that Clark was the toughest player she had to plan against.

"The most dangerous thing about Caitlin Clark is her passing ability," Dawn Staley said (Timestamp: 28:54). "Her ability to make other people better, other people’s production along with her production. That’s how you win. If you could take that away — and that was our emphasis when we won, when we beat them in the finals last year — we said, 'Caitlin Clark’s gonna get 30.' It is — she can’t have 12 assists.

Because if she’s got 12 assists, then she’s involving her teammates in a way that doesn’t quite add up. We can’t produce enough points like they can. And it’s probably easy points. They’re probably layups. Those 12 assists are probably layups. They’re not three-point shots, because we could defend that. It’s hard to defend a layup in transition when she’s picking you apart."

Dawn Staley admits losing to Caitlin Clark and Iowa nearly shook her faith in God

The Gamecocks were riding a 36-0 record heading into their Final Four matchup against Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes in 2023. But Clark put on a show, going for 41 points and eight rebounds as she led Iowa to a 77-73 victory.

"It didn't hurt me enough to didn't think there was a God, but I did question why," Staley said, as per an X user @VanLathan."I needed to know why. But the answer to the why happened a year later ... So God left me on the 'why' and then followed it up ... it's an uncommon favor."

Dawn Staley's team faced Iowa again the following season in the championship game, but this time South Carolina was able to contain Clark to some degree on their way to winning its third NCAA title. Clark finished with 30 points and five assists in the loss.