Head coach Dawn Staley did not like what she was seeing. Less than two minutes into Friday’s Sweet 16 showdown against fourth-seeded North Carolina, top-seed South Carolina trailed 8-0.
It was a nightmarish start for the Gamecocks. North Carolina was playing fast and South Carolina was struggling to catch up with a team that loves to run.
Something needed to change, and Staley’s point guard senses told her the game needed to be slowed down.
“I wasn’t in coach mode, I was in point guard mode,” Staley said. “Things didn’t feel right.”
So who better to put in than redshirt junior guard Tina Roy, whom Staley has nicknamed “The Big Easy”?
Roy, one of the Gamecocks’ most experienced players, had a calming effect on South Carolina, which started off out of sorts. She was able to get her team back on track after a disastrous opening, while also doing what she does best — knocking down three-pointers — when South Carolina needed her the most in its 67-65 win over the Tar Heels.
“She was huge,” Staley said. “I thought she ran our team extremely well. It’s something that she has done for us for many years.”
Roy finished with 12 points in a season-high 29 minutes off of the bench and she was ready each time her number was called.
“To know that my team trusted it me, that coach Staley trusted me, it makes me want to do even better,” Roy said.
With the Gamecocks down 59-55 with just over four minutes remaining, it was Roy who nailed her fourth three-pointer of the evening to keep South Carolina in the game.
It was that kind of night for Roy and the Gamecocks. Just when it seemed like things could go haywire, someone rose to the occasion to save the day.
Although Roy, like most South Carolina reserves, doesn’t play much, she knows her role and has proved that she can be counted on.
“I was definitely ready,” Roy said. “Coach Staley kept telling me to be ready to shoot and if you keep shooting then they’ll eventually fall.”
Staley trusted in Roy to steady the ship after a less than ideal start for South Carolina, as the Kaplan, Louisiana native checked in less than four minutes into the game, much earlier than she usually does. South Carolina starting point guard Khadijah Sessions was playing a bit out of control, perhaps trying to do too much one year after struggling against the Tar Heels; so Staley opted to go with Roy, a much more reliable and slow-paced option, at the point for much of the night.
“We don’t call her the Big Easy for anything,” Staley said. “She’s calculated. She sees the game a bit slower and differently and she’s able to make different types of passes and they weren’t able to play off of her like they were able to play off of Khadijah.”
While Roy’s presence helped South Carolina’s offense get back in form in the first half, she really elevated her play in the second half, scoring nine points after halftime thanks to her ability to shoot from beyond the three-point line.
“I don’t know how teams keep leaving her open like that, but they’re going to find out like North Carolina did,” South Carolina junior guard Tiffany Mitchell said. “You have to guard Tina on the three-point line when she catches the ball.”
cqmk Roy was overlooked by LSU, the flagship school in her home state, out of high school.
That’s fine with her, though. Roy remembers when she was being recruited by Staley: Her future head coach told her that South Carolina would contend for national titles during the course of her career and Roy knew that with Staley in charge, South Carolina was the right place for her.
Years later, the Gamecocks are now just one win away from their first trip to the Final Four in program history and they definitely have Roy to thank for her role in that.
“I was happy she just came through and always stayed ready,” Staley said.