Jones Excels in Being Ready When Her Number is Called
Stepping into a starting role after a teammate goes down isn’t easy, especially when there’s a lot at stake. Sutton Jones has been there before, and the soft-spoken sophomore defender has helped South Carolina’s stout defense live up to its reputation.
“My job is to keep the shutouts going and just stay connected with the back line,” said Jones, who is studying public health. “Communicating to the people in front of me is very important, too. I felt a lot of pressure at first. I was very nervous. The team just made it easy though. They seemed very confident in me when I stepped in. They helped me to be more confident in myself.”
“She has done a great job,” said Head Coach Shelley Smith. “She’s very good on the ball, serves a good ball, and the things we spoke to her about last year, she came back and improved upon them. You see that in her decisiveness, and her urgency in the back that you need to have. She did a lot last summer to be fit and ready to go this season.”
Jones was already a regular coming off the bench, but when senior right back Tatumn Milazzo went down with a season-ending knee injury on senior night, she moved into the right outside back slot, and the Gamecocks have only allowed one goal in seven games since the injury, which included three straight shutouts in the SEC Tournament to win the title for the first time since 2009.
“We give that message to our players that are on the bench; you have to be ready to go when you’re called upon.”
– Coach Shelley Smith
“Tatumn was such a key player for us, and the team has such a good dynamic on and off the field,” Jones said. “It was definitely hard to step into that position and still maintain that dynamic but having (three-time SEC Defensive Player of the Year) Grace (Fisk) and (Second Team All-SEC) Anna (Patten) back there with me, they made that transition a lot easier.
“(Goalkeeper) Mikayla (Krzeczowski) has been the most helpful for me stepping into this role. She is always talking and always giving helpful advice.”
“We give that message to our players that are on the bench; you have to be ready to go when you’re called upon,” Smith said. “You’re always one injury away from changing how we play. That’s why depth is key. If you don’t do the work to stay prepared, we wouldn’t be in the position we’re in now.”
The transition wasn’t something that was new for Jones. Last year she stepped into the same role late in the year after teammate Jackie Schaefer had to medically retire due to concussions.
“One of the reasons we substitute throughout the season is not just to keep players fresh; it’s to give players time because you never know when these things are going to happen,” Smith said. “The fact that Sutton had games under her belt last year and this year, even when it was in a substitute role, helped her fill in right away.”
“I’m grateful that I did have that experience last year, not that Jackie got hurt, but just knowing of what it means to be in that situation as a starter and having experienced that intensity helped me this season,” Jones said. “I’m definitely more confident. This year, I’ve been more confident going forward and have been able to help out a little on the offensive side.”
In fact, she helped out on the offensive side more than just “a little.” Jones scored the game winning goal in South Carolina’s SEC Tournament semifinal win over Vanderbilt and assisted on the game winning goal against Arkansas in the championship game. She was named to the SEC All-Tournament Team for her efforts.
“The goal was on a corner kick and my run was at the front post,” Jones recalled. “Claire (Griffiths) was taking the corner kick, and it was supposed to go to the back post. I was just making my run, the ball just came right to me, and I headed it in. It was a feeling I had never really felt before. It was so exciting. It was awesome to know I could help my team out in that way.
“In the Arkansas game, that was a really good feeling, too. In our scouting report of them, (Associate Head Coach) Jamie (Smith) told us to keep dumping balls in the box and keep creating chaos, and that’s how we would score against them. I was just thinking, ‘get the ball in the box,’ and it ended up working when Ryan (Gareis) scored the goal.”
As the Gamecocks get set for Friday’s NCAA Tournament Second Round match against Notre Dame at Stone Stadium, Jones is ready to soak in the excitement and get back to work.
“I want to stay strong defensively and help out the offense as much as I can,” Jones said. “I just need to stay confident. At the beginning of the season, the whole team met and made goals for ourselves. We’ve already met some of them, such as winning the SEC Tournament. Obviously, we want to go all the way and win the NCAA Tournament. That’s our main goal right now.”
