LOUISVILLE, KY —  With two minutes left, the crowd was on its feet hoping to see Louisville upset South Carolina women’s basketball,But Madina Okot didn’t want to let that happen.Okot caught the ball as two defenders closed in on her, turned and scored, silencing the crowd. Then 33 seconds later she scored again.The 6-foot-6 center had nine fourth-quarter points and finished with 23 to help the No. 3 Gamecocks (8-1) to a 79-77 win over the No. 21 Cardinals (8-3) on Dec. 4. Okot did go 1-of-4 from the free throw line in the final eight seconds.”Madina has to be in more situations like this to continue to rise to the challenge,” Staley said of Okot in a second straight close game. “I know she’ll probably spend a lot of time beating herself up regarding the free throws … she probably doesn’t think she played well but we don’t win if she’s not on our side.” Staley has said all season she wants Okot to dominate more, despite her having now seven double-doubles in nine games. Heading into the game, she was tied for the best in the nation with six.Okot came out with a quick nine points but then scored only five across the middle two quarters. The Gamecocks were settling for outside jumpers or 3-pointers, with no second-chance rebounding effort.But Louisville couldn’t deal with the height of Okot, who sealed off her defender and scored when she was given the ball inside. South Carolina’s Raven Johnson recognized that in the fourth quarter especially, feeding Okot on both of the late-game layups instead of orchestrating an offense around the perimeter.”Coach tells her she needs to be dominant,” Johnson said of Okot. “She probably dwells on the missed layups she had but she finishes the game, which is what we need from her.”Staley said getting the ball to Okot consistently like they did in fourth quarter is always intentional. “Our No. 1 option is to get her the ball because she’s a high percentage shooter,” Staley said.Okot missed three layups and went 3-of-7 from the free throw line. This marked her third game scoring 23 points. She’s averaging 14.4 points and 11.1 rebounds, shooting 61.2% from the field, which is tied for 17th in the nation.For Mississippi State last season, she averaged 22.6 minutes, but she’s averaging 26 now. Staley didn’t have a player like Okot last season, but she has had a big to work her offense before through in the paint. “She’s dominant out there,” said South Carolina’s Tessa Johnson, who finished with 20 points. “We keep asking her, telling her, pushing her and encouraging her to be dominant. We just have that standard for her, she’s just meeting that standard and soon we’re going to have to exceed the standard.”Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley wants South Carolina’s Madina Okot to dominate