‘Go get the ball’: Dawn Staley hints at Zia Cooke playing bigger role at point guard

Jeremiah Holloway
Tracy Glantz/tglantz@thestate.com

Dawn Staley is looking for senior guard Zia Cooke to take on more ball-handling duties this year.

Cooke has been used mostly as a scorer in her three seasons at South Carolina, averaging 12.8 points per game through 100 games.

With Destanni Henderson now in the WNBA, the defending-champion Gamecocks need someone to step up at point guard. Staley mentioned Cooke as a prime candidate to help fill that role.

“She wants to embrace the role of playing a little bit more point guard,” Staley said. “She’s a senior. I don’t really have to tell her to go play point guard. Go get the ball. Do what you do.”

Cooke was the third-leading scorer last season for South Carolina, and also third in assists. She has a career assist average of 1.8 per game, which would likely go up with more touches at the point.

Comparatively, Henderson averaged 3.3 assists per game in her Gamecock career to go with 9.5 points. Henderson never reached Cooke’s career-high season average of 15.9 points per game, but did average 5.0 assists per game in her junior season and almost 4 per game last year.

Cooke’s been asked to shoot more often than Henderson was, taking 12.2 shots per game over her career compared with 8.5 for Henderson.

Still, Cooke knows South Carolina’s offense more than the other guards in the current rotation. Raven Johnson was a freshman last season and missed most of the year due to a knee injury. Talaysia Cooper is an incoming freshman, and sophomore Bree Hall played just 9.2 minutes per game last season.

Laeticia Amihere is an option for South Carolina. When Henderson missed a few games with an injury last year, Amihere filled the gap.

Another option is Kierra Fletcher, a graduate student who is new to South Carolina as a transfer from Georgia Tech. She averaged 3.7 assists per game in her last year with the Yellow Jackets, but is still learning the Gamecocks’ offense.

“You’ve been around the block long enough to know when you want to take charge of things,” Staley said. “Zia knows our system.”

Cooke’s career-high for assists in a game is five, matching that number five times in her career and three times last season. She’s scored 20 or more points 14 times at South Carolina, scoring a career-high 27 points during a game in her freshman season.

With Johnson and Fletcher both working their way back from injuries, Cooke might naturally take on more point guard responsibilities.

Last season, Cooke averaged a career-low 10.2 points per game on 34% shooting. A higher concentration of minutes at point guard, however, could provide more balance to her game.

“I think she’s gonna have an incredible season this year,” Staley said. “And that’s with her playing both guard spots.”

USC WOMEN’S BASKETBALL 2022-23 SCHEDULE

  • Oct. 31: home vs. Benedict (exhibition), 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Nov. 7: home vs. ETSU, 8:30 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Nov. 11: at Maryland, 6 p.m. (ESPN2)

  • Nov. 17: at Clemson, 7 p.m. (TV/stream is TBD)

  • Nov. 20: at Stanford, TBD (TV/stream is TBD)

  • Nov. 22: at Cal Poly, 8 p.m. (TV/stream is TBD)

  • Nov. 27: home vs. Hampton, noon (SEC Network Plus)

  • Nov. 29: home vs. UCLA, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Dec. 3: home vs. Memphis, 3 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 11: home vs. Liberty, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 15: at South Dakota State, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)

  • Dec. 18: home vs. Charleston Southern, 2 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec 21: home vs. Coastal Carolina, noon (SEC Network Plus)

  • Dec. 29: home vs. Texas A&M, 7 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 2: at Georgia, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 5: home vs. Auburn, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Jan. 8: at Mississippi State, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 12: at Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Jan. 15: home vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 19: at Vanderbilt, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Jan. 22: home vs. Arkansas, 3 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Jan. 29: at Alabama, 1 p.m. (SEC Network or ESPN2)

  • Feb. 2: home vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 5: at UConn, noon (Fox)

  • Feb. 9: at Auburn, 8 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Feb. 12: home vs. LSU, 2 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 16: home vs. Florida, 7 p.m. (SEC Network Plus)

  • Feb. 19: at Ole Miss, 4 p.m. (SEC Network)

  • Feb. 23: at Tennessee, 7 p.m. (ESPN)

  • Feb. 26: home vs. Georgia, noon (SEC Network or ESPN2)

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