South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley gave her candid perspective this week on the challenges of repeating as national champions, describing the difficulty her team has faced in staying grounded after last year’s undefeated title run in the NCAA Tournament.

Speaking ahead of the Gamecocks’ Sweet 16 matchup against Maryland, Staley said her team had to relearn the effort it takes to win consistently.

“I think the biggest thing in winning the championship and then coming back is the players seem to forget how hard it was,” Staley said, as reported by Andrea Adelson of ESPN. “We won. We were undefeated. You can kind of get drunk off that success and think, ‘Oh, we can do it again.' It's much harder than they could have ever imagined. We had to work through not playing our best basketball early and not playing to the standard that we were used to.”

South Carolina, the No. 1 seed in its region, returned many players from last year’s title team but dropped three games this season, including a November road loss to UCLA that snapped a 43-game winning streak. The Gamecocks also suffered defeats to Texas and UConn in February, the latter ending their 71-game home winning streak.

Staley said the losses forced her team to confront complacency.

“Every single one of our losses came at a time when we needed it, and we came out better because of it,” she said. “I hope it’s enough to get us to the finish line.”

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Guard Raven Johnson echoed her coach’s sentiments, calling the defeats humbling and necessary.

“We were very complacent, like we could just do another perfect season, but it’s not like that all the time,” Johnson said.

South Carolina has since bounced back, winning the SEC tournament and entering the NCAA tournament with a renewed focus. Still, Staley took issue with her team not receiving the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, which went to UCLA.

She questioned the value of scheduling a difficult nonconference slate, noting the Gamecocks faced several tournament-caliber opponents throughout the season.

“We still want to elevate our sport,” Staley said. “But I do need the committee to look at it from our vantage point.”

South Carolina women's basketball faces Maryland Friday in the Sweet 16.