South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball


The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference. The program enjoyed success under head coach Nancy Wilson during the 1980s in the Metro Conference, when it won five regular season conference championships and three conference tournament championships. Under current head coach Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks have been one of the top programs in the country, winning the NCAA Championship in 2017. The program claims a mythical national championship in 2020 before the season ended because of the COVID-19 pandemic, finishing first in the two major polls.

History

The Gamecocks first competed at an intercollegiate level in women's basketball in 1923, when they were called the Pullets.
The modern era of South Carolina women's basketball began when the Carolina Chicks took to the court in January 1974 under the guidance of Pam Backhaus. The inaugural team compiled a record of 15–7 and were the South Carolina AIAW champions. In 1977, with Pam Parsons as the head coach the women's basketball team, they changed their nickname to the Lady Gamecocks and made post-season trips every year during her four-year tenure.
During its eight seasons in the Metro Conference, the Lady Gamecocks won the regular season championship five times and the conference tournament three times.
When South Carolina joined the SEC, success was hard to come by during their first decade in one of the strongest conferences in women's basketball. They initially struggled to compete under head coaches Nancy Wilson and Susan Walvius. Walvius' teams in 2001–02 and 2002–03 broke through to finish 25–7 and 23–8, respectively, earning trips to the NCAA tournament and reaching the Elite Eight in 2002.
Walvius resigned after the 2007–08 season. On May 7, 2008, Dawn Staley was named the new head coach of the team now known as simply the "Gamecocks".
Under coach Staley, the Gamecocks improved or equaled their win total every season during her first seven years leading the program, culminating in a 34–3 record in 2014–15. That year they won the SEC regular season championship, the SEC Tournament championship and the NCAA East Region Championship. The season ended in the NCAA Final Four with a last second one-point loss to Notre Dame in the national semifinals.
The following year, the Gamecocks went undefeated in conference play, only to be stymied in the Sweet 16 by Syracuse. In 2016–17, the Gamecocks garnered their third straight sweep of the SEC regular season and tournament titles en route to their second Final Four. They defeated conference rival Mississippi State in the national championship game to win their first-ever national title.
In the 2018 SEC tournament, the Gamecocks defeated Mississippi State to win the SEC tournament, South Carolina is the only team to win the SEC tournament for four straight years. Their season came to an end when they were defeated by Connecticut in the Elite Eight.
In 2020, South Carolina finished 32–1, led by the #1 ranked recruiting class and senior leadership of point guard Tyasha Harris. The Gamecocks defeated 14 ranked teams including their first-ever victory over UConn, and won both the SEC regular season and tournament titles. South Carolina won their final 26 games of the season and spent the final nine weeks as the AP #1 ranked team. Dawn Staley was named national coach of the year, and Aliyah Boston was named national freshman of the year, and SEC defensive player of the year. After the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season prematurely on March 12, the Gamecocks clinched by traditional college football standards the Consensus National Championship by finishing first in both major polls polls. Staley is pushing to claim the title.

Head coaches

Year-by-year results

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source

Attendance

Over the years, the Gamecocks have played in three different venues. At first games were played at the Blatt P.E. Center. Later games moved to the Carolina Coliseum, which saw the first sell out for a women's basketball game on January 17, 2002. That day, 12,168 fans turned out to see the South Carolina Gamecocks take on the Tennessee Lady Vols.
On November 22, 2002, the Lady Gamecocks opened the newly constructed Colonial Life Arena would be with $1 admission night, leading to a crowd 17,712 saw the Lady Gamecocks defeat the archrival Clemson Lady Tigers. The first sell out with 18,000 in attendance occurred on February 8, 2016 against the University of Connecticut Huskies in a match up of the two top ranked teams in the country.
Crowds of over 16,000 at Colonial Life Arena for Women's Basketball games:
DateAttendanceOpponentResult
03-01-202018,000Texas A&MW 60–52
02-10-202018,000ConnecticutW 70–52
03-03-201918,000Mississippi StateL 68–64
02-01-201818,000ConnecticutL 58–83
02-26-201718,000KentuckyW 95–87
02-08-201618,000ConnecticutL 66–54
11-22-200217,712ClemsonW 72–58
01-11-201517,156KentuckyW 68–60
11-13-201516,815Ohio StateW 88–80
01-02-201516,465AuburnW 77–58
12-06-201516,429DukeW 66–55
02-28-201616,240LSUW 75–39
02-18-201616,186GeorgiaW 61–51

Starting with the 2013–14 season, the South Carolina Gamecocks became one of the national leaders in attendance for Women's Basketball. In 2014–15, the Gamecocks led the nation in attendance with 12,540 fans per game. They followed this up with an average attendance of 14,364 in 2015–16, a season where every home game had at least 10,000 fans in attendance.
* The 2019 NCAA Tournament games were played in Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC

Current roster

Notable players

Gamecocks in the WNBA

PlayerDraftSeasonsNotes
Shannon Johnson1999 – Orlando11 Last with the Seattle Storm
Shaunzinski Gortman2002 – 9th by Charlotte5 Last with the Seattle Storm
Jocelyn Penn2003 – 9th by Charlotte2 Last with the San Antonio Stars
Tiffany Mitchell2016 – 9th by Indiana5 Indiana Fever
Alaina Coates2017 – 2nd by Chicago3 Currently with the Atlanta Dream
Allisha Gray2017 – 4th by Dallas3 Dallas Wings, 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Kaela Davis2017 – 10th by Dallas3 Dallas Wings
A'ja Wilson2018 – 1st by Las Vegas2 Las Vegas Aces, 2018 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan2020 – 6th by Minnesota0 Minnesota Lynx
Tyasha Harris2020 – 7th by Dallas0 Dallas Wings

Also drafted:
South Carolina has retired two jersey numbers.
13Martha Parker1985–1989
53Sheila Foster1978–1982

Player and coach awards

National player awards

* Denotes Co-Player / Co-Coach

Metro awards