One year removed from an impressive freshman campaign that was deemed worthy of the SEC freshman of the year award, South Carolina sophomore center Alaina Coates said she felt like she had “simmered a little” in her sophomore season.
That might be the case, but South Carolina’s 6-foot-4 scoring machine has saved her best play of the year for the postseason.
After the Gamecocks earned a trip to the Final Four with their 80-74 win over second-seeded Florida State Sunday, Coates was named the Greensboro Regional’s Most Outstanding Player.
And for good reason.
Over the weekend, Coates turned in an 18-point, 10-rebound in Friday’s victory against fourth-seeded North Carolina in the Sweet 16 before adding 14 more points in the Gamecocks’ win against the Seminoles.
For Coates, she’s happy to be playing well at such a critical juncture of the season.
“I feel like I’m playing better basketball,” Coates said. “There’s always room for improvement. I know during the regular season it didn’t turn out as great for me as I wanted it to, so I just want to be able to do more for my team and for myself coming into the postseason.”
Coates certainly made an impact the latter stages of Sunday’s game. Of her 14 points, 12 came after halftime, as South Carolina engaged in a back-and-forth battle with Florida State before eventually pulling away.
“It just means a lot knowing that my hard work paid off; knowing that I was able to go out there and contribute to what my team was doing in a big way like that,” Coates said. “It means a lot.”
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is very pleased with Coates’ play as of late and said that something has ‘clicked’ for her.
“I think she just realized how talented she is, and when she puts her mind to doing something, it works for her,” Staley said. “I think there wasn’t any doubt that she could be the best player on the floor when she puts her mind to it. And she definitely was a key component of us getting to this point.”
Like Coates, Staley does think that she perhaps hit a bit of a wall during the course of the regular season. But in Staley’s mind, that’s only natural when a young player like Coates continues to make the transition to the college game.
With that said, Coates has seemingly gotten past that wall and is now playing some of the best basketball of her career.
“Things are clearing up for her from a basketball standpoint and you’re seeing the benefits of her seeing it a little bit differently,” Staley said.