2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
Battle 4 Atlantis champions SEC regular season champions
NCAA Tournament
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
2021–22 record	30–2 (15–1 SEC)
Head coach	Dawn Staley (14th season)
Assistant coaches	Lisa Boyer Fred Chmiel Jolette Law
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena
Seasons ← 2020–21  →

The 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks are led by fourteenth-year head coach Dawn Staley, they play their home games at Colonial Life Arena and compete as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Previous season[]

The Gamecocks finished the season with a 26–5 overall record and a 14–2 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC Tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament, where they reached the Final Four, losing to Stanford 66–65.

Offseason[]

2021 recruiting class[]

The Gamecocks signed the #1 class for 2021 according to ESPN.,^[1] their second #1 class in three years.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Raven Johnson #1 PG	Atlanta, GA	Westlake	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	N/A	Jun 25, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 98
Saniya Rivers #2 G	Wilmington, NC	Eugene Ashley	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A	May 30, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 98
Sania Feagin #1 F	Ellenwood, GA	Forest Park	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A	Jun 3, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 98
Aubryanna Hall #5 G	Dayton, OH	Wayne	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)	N/A	May 25, 2020
	Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A   Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 96
Overall recruiting rankings:   ESPN: 1
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2021 South Carolina Gamecocks Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.

Incoming transfers[]

Preseason[]

Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley enters her fourteenth year at South Carolina, fresh off winning an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning all six games as head coach of Team USA.^[2]

South Carolina was named AP preseason #1 for the second straight season, as they return every player from last years Final Four team, added the #1 recruiting class, adding four 5 star recruits, three of which were ranked in the top 5. They also added ACC Freshman of the year and former 5 star recruit 6'8 Kamillia Cardoso.^[3][4][5]

Award watch lists[]

Preseason All-American teams[]

First team Aliyah Boston[13] – C SEC coaches poll[] The SEC coaches selected the Gamecocks to finish in first place in the SEC.[14] Coaches poll Predicted finish Team 1 South Carolina 2 Texas A&M 3 Tennessee 4 Georgia 5 Kentucky 6 Ole Miss 7 Arkansas 8 LSU 9 Mississippi State 10 Missouri 11 Florida 12 Alabama 13 Auburn 14 Vanderbilt Preseason All-SEC teams[] First team Aliyah Boston – C Zia Cooke – SG Second team Destanni Henderson – PG Roster[] 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team Players Coaches Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Olivia Thompson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Lexington   Lexington, SC   G 1 Zia Cooke 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Rogers   Toledo, OH   G 2 Eniya Russell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So St. Vincent Pallotti   Baltimore, MD G 3 Destanni Henderson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Fort Myers   Fort Myers, FL   F 4 Aliyah Boston 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Jr Worcester Academy   Saint Thomas, VI   F 5 Victaria Saxton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Model   Rome, GA   C 10 Kamilla Cardoso 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) So Hamilton Heights   Syracuse Montes Claros, BR   G 11 Destiny Littleton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Sr The Bishop's School Texas   La Jolla, CA   G 12 Brea Beal 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Rock Island   Rock Island, IL   F 15 Laeticia Amihere 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) RS Jr Kings Way Christian   Milton, ON G 20 Sania Feagin 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) Fr Forest Park   Ellenwood, GA   G 23 Aubryanna Hall 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Wayne   Dayton, OH   G 24 Lele Grissett 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Hillside   Durham, NC  G 25 Raven Johnson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Westlake   Atlanta, GA   F 32 Elysa Wesolek 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Sr Northwood   Charleston, SC G 44 Saniya Rivers 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr Eugene Ashley   Wilmington, NC Head coach Dawn Staley (Virginia) Assistant coach(es) Lisa Boyer (Ithaca College) Fred Chmiel (Alaska–Anchorage) Jolette Law (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: March 14, 2022 Starting lineup[] South Carolina Position Aliyah Boston F Victoria Saxton F Brea Beal G Zia Cooke G Destanni Henderson G Schedule[] Date time, TV Rank# Opponent# Result Record High points High rebounds High assists Site (attendance) city, state Exhibition November 1, 2021* 7:00 pm No. 1 Benedict W 98–41  –  18 – Cardoso   13 – Cardoso   7 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC Regular season November 9, 2021* 5:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 at No. 5 NC State W 66–57  1–0  17 – Cooke   6 – Boston   5 – Henderson  Reynolds Coliseum (5,533) Raleigh, NC November 12, 2021* 3:30 pm, ESPNEWS No. 1 vs. South Dakota The Invitational W 72–41  2–0  15 – Henderson   8 – Tied   5 – Henderson  Sanford Pentagon (2,845) Sioux Falls, SD November 17, 2021* 7:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 Clemson rivalry W 76–45  3–0  16 – Henderson   6 – Tied   6 – Henderson  Colonial Life Arena (13,363) Columbia, SC November 20, 2021* 7:30 pm No. 1 vs. Buffalo Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis quarterfinal W 88–60  4–0  23 – Boston   10 – Cardoso   8 – Henderson  Imperial Arena (667) Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas November 21, 2021* 2:30 pm No. 1 vs. No. 9 Oregon Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis semifinal W 80–63  5–0  20 – Cooke   8 – Boston   5 – Cooke  Imperial Arena  Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas November 22, 2021* 12:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 vs. No. 2 UConn Bad Boys Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis championship W 73–57  6–0  23 – Boston   15 – Boston   6 – Henderson  Imperial Arena (1,171) Paradise Island, Nassau, Bahamas November 26, 2021* 3:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 Elon W 79–38  7–0  12 – Boston   8 – Beal   3 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (11,360) Columbia, SC November 29, 2021* 7:00 pm, SECN No. 1 NC A&T W 79–42  8–0  29 – Boston   14 – Boston   4 – Saxton  Colonial Life Arena (12,020) Columbia, SC December 3, 2021* 7:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 Kansas State Big 12/SEC Challenge W 65–44  9–0  21 – Boston   17 – Boston   7 – Amihere  Colonial Life Arena (11,657) Columbia, SC December 12, 2021* 3:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 No. 8 Maryland Women's Jimmy V Classic W 66–59  10–0  20 – Cooke   16 – Boston   2 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (12,862) Columbia, SC December 15, 2021* 7:00 pm, ACCN No. 1 at No. 15 Duke W 55–46  11–0  19 – Boston   14 – Boston   3 – Amihere  Cameron Indoor Stadium (5,451) Durham, NC December 21, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 No. 1 No. 2 Stanford W 65–61  12–0  18 – Boston   11 – Boston   7 – Henderson  Colonial Life Arena (13,070) Columbia, SC December 30, 2021 7:00 pm, SECN No. 1 at Missouri L 69–70 OT 12–1 (0–1)  17 – Boston   12 – Boston   7 – Henderson  Mizzou Arena (6,139) Columbia, MO January 2, 2022 6:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 Mississippi State W 80–68  13–1 (1–1)  18 – Cooke   14 – Henderson   8 – Henderson  Colonial Life Arena (11,403) Columbia, SC January 6, 2022 8:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 at No. 13 LSU W 66–60  14–1 (2–1)  19 – Boston   18 – Boston   3 – Cooke  Pete Maravich Assembly Center (9,190) Baton Rouge, LA January 9, 2022 1:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 No. 21 Kentucky W 74–54  15–1 (3–1)  19 – Cooke   15 – Boston   4 – Henderson  Colonial Life Arena (12,327) Columbia, SC January 13, 2022 7:00 pm, SECN No. 1 Texas A&M W 65–45  16–1 (4–1)  19 – Boston   15 – Boston   2 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (12,169) Columbia, SC January 16, 2022 3:00 pm, ESPN2 No. 1 at Arkansas W 61–52  17–1 (5–1)  19 – Tied   13 – Boston   3 – Henderson  Bud Walton Arena (4,265) Fayetteville, AR January 24, 2022 7:00 pm, SECN No. 1 Vanderbilt W 85–30  18–1 (6–1)  14 – Grissett   12 – Boston   4 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (11,329) Columbia, SC January 27, 2022 6:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 No. 24 Ole Miss W 69–40  19–1 (7–1)  22 – Boston   12 – Boston   2 – Saxton  Colonial Life Arena (13,973) Columbia, SC January 30, 2022 12:00 pm, SECN No. 1 at Florida W 62–50  20–1 (8–1)  13 – Boston   19 – Boston   5 – Henderson  O'Connell Center (5,319) Gainesville, FL February 3, 2022 7:00 pm, SECN+ No. 1 Alabama W 83–51  21–1 (9–1)  20 – Boston   10 – Boston   4 – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (11,875) Columbia, SC February 10, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN No. 1 at Kentucky W 59–50  22–1 (10–1)  14 – Boston   15 – Boston   5 – Henderson  Memorial Coliseum (4,317) Lexington, KY February 13, 2022 12:00 pm, ESPN2 No. 1 at No. 17 Georgia W 72–54  23–1 (11–1)  18 – Boston   12 – Boston   5 – Cooke  Stegeman Coliseum (5,461) Athens, GA February 17, 2022 7:00 pm, SECN No. 1 Auburn W 75–38  24–1 (12–1)  20 – Cooke   12 – Boston   5 – Rivers  Colonial Life Arena (12,574) Columbia, SC February 20, 2022 1:00 pm, ABC No. 1 No. 12 Tennessee College GameDay W 67–53  25–1 (13–1)  16 – Boston   13 – Boston   5 – Henderson  Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC February 24, 2022 8:30 pm, SECN No. 1 at Texas A&M W 89–48  26–1 (14–1)  18 – Boston   10 – Boston   5 – Saxton  Reed Arena (5,883) College Station, TX February 27, 2022 2:00 pm, SECN No. 1 at Ole Miss W 71–57  27–1 (15–1)  23 – Henderson   14 – Boston   8 – Henderson  SJB Pavilion (3,221) Oxford, MS SEC Tournament March 4, 2022 12:00 pm, SECN (1) No. 1 vs. (8) Arkansas Quarterfinals W 76–54  28–1  17 – Boston   14 – Boston   5 – Boston  Bridgestone Arena (6,880) Nashville, TN March 5, 2022 5:00 pm, ESPNU (1) No. 1 vs. (4) Ole Miss Semifinals W 61–51  29–1  15 – Boston   12 – Boston   5 – Henderson  Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, TN March 6, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN (1) No. 1 vs. (7) Kentucky Championship L 62–64  29–2  21 – Boston   11 – Boston   5 – Henderson  Bridgestone Arena  Nashville, TN NCAA Tournament March 18, 2022 2:00 pm, ESPN (1 G) No. 1 (16 G) Howard First Round W 79–21  30–2  10 – Tied   13 – Saxton    – Tied  Colonial Life Arena (8,478) Columbia, SC March 20, 2022 3:00 pm, ABC (1 G) No. 1 (8 G) Miami Second Round W 49–33  31–2  11 – Cardoso   16 – Boston   4 – Boston  Colonial Life Arena (9,817) Columbia, SC March 25, 2022 7:00 pm, ESPN (1 G) No. 1 vs. (5 G) No. 17 North Carolina Sweet Sixteen       Greensboro Coliseum  Greensboro, NC *Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. [15] Statistics[] Team total per game[] Team PTS FGM FGA 3PM 3PA FTM FTA REB AST STL BLK ATT Gamecocks 2210 829 1908 148 468 404 602 1477 440 195 244 177,191 Opponents 1602 615 1866 117 434 225 383 945 279 190 137 54,779 Team average per game[] Team PPG FG FG% 3P 3P% FT FT% REB AST STL BLK ATT Gamecocks 71.3 26.7 43.4% 4.8 31.6% 13.0 67.1% 47.6 14.2 6.3 7.8 12,714 Opponents 51.7 19.8 33.0% 3.8 27.0% 8.2 66.6% 30.5 9.0 6.1 4.4 5,478 Individual total per game[] Player GP MP PTS FGM FGA FG% 3M 3A 3P% FTM FTA FT% ORB DRB REB AST TO STL BLK Aliyah Boston 31 868 522 205 377 54.4% 13 42 31.0% 99 126 78.6% 118 253 371 60 45 40 82 Destanni Henderson 28 861 315 116 278 41.7% 41 101 40.6% 42 60 70.0% 20 74 94 120 60 38 3 Zia Cooke 30 830 366 119 340 35.0% 37 126 28.9% 61 85 71.8% 14 50 64 56 62 16 2 Laeticia Amihere 25 458 177 62 138 44.9% 5 9 55.6% 48 72 66.7% 40 60 100 30 52 15 25 Kamilla Cardoso 26 370 150 60 107 56.1% 0 0 0.0% 30 42 71.4% 50 92 142 28 32 10 40 Victaria Saxton 31 653 174 74 144 51.4% 0 1 0.0% 26 44 59.1% 87 75 162 40 37 19 42 Brea Beal 31 737 148 57 147 38.8% 15 54 27.8% 19 37 51.4% 57 111 168 35 33 21 15 LeLe Grissett 19 232 67 24 54 44.4% 1 1 100% 18 36 50.0% 20 19 39 18 15 5 5 Destiny Littleton 25 242 74 23 61 37.7% 19 32 36.5% 9 12 75.0% 5 25 30 4 12 7 2 Bree Hall 30 289 85 28 86 32.6% 11 36 30.6% 18 27 66.7% 12 35 47 1 22 3 1 Saniya Rivers 24 317 57 23 90 25.6% 1 27 0.37% 10 20 50.0% 5 37 42 34 26 11 12 Eniya Russell 20 157 46 16 39 41.0% 4 10 40.0% 10 17 58.8% 3 25 28 15 14 4 2 Sania Feagin 25 112 45 17 30 56.7% 0 0 0.0% 11 20 55.0% 11 24 35 5 14 4 11 Elysa Wesolek 16 56 11 4 9 44.0% 0 2 0.0% 3 4 75.0% 4 6 10 4 6 0 0 Olivia Thompson 9 34 3 1 7 14.3% 1 7 14.3% 0 0 0.0% 0 2 2 0 0 1 0 Raven Johnson 2 9 1 0 1 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0.0% 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 Individual average per game[] Player GP MIN FG% 3P% FT% OREB DREB REB AST STL BLK PPG Aliyah Boston 31 28.0 54.4% 31.0% 78.6% 3.8 8.2 12.0 1.9 1.3 2.6 16.8 Destanni Henderson 28 30.8 41.7% 40.6% 70.0% 0.7 2.6 3.4 4.3 1.4 0.1 11.3 Zia Cooke 30 27.7 35.0% 29.4% 71.8% 0.5 1.7 2.1 1.9 0.6 0.1 11.2 Laeticia Amihere 25 18.3 44.9% 55.6% 66.7% 1.6 2.4 4.0 1.2 0.6 1.0 7.1 Kamilla Cardoso 26 14.2 56.1% 0.0% 71.4% 1.9 3.5 5.5 1.1 0.4 1.5 5.8 Victoria Saxton 31 21.1 51.4% 0.0% 59.1% 2.8 2.4 5.2 1.3 0.6 1.4 5.6 Brea Beal 31 23.8 38.8% 27.8% 51.4% 1.8 3.6 5.4 1.1 0.7 0.5 4.8 LeLe Grissett 19 12.2 44.4% 100% 50.0% 1.1 1.0 2.1 0.4 0.3 0.3 3.5 Destiny Littleton 25 9.7 37.7% 36.5% 75.0% 0.2 1.0 1.2 0.2 0.3 0.1 3.0 Bree Hall 30 9.6 32.6% 30.6% 66.7% 0.4 1.2 1.6 0.0 0.1 0.0 2.8 Saniya Rivers 24 13.2 25.6% 0.37% 50.0% 0.2 1.5 1.8 1.4 0.5 0.5 2.4 Eniya Russell 20 7.9 41.0% 40.0% 58.8% 0.2 1.3 1.4 0.8 0.2 0.1 2.3 Sania Feagin 25 4.5 56.7% 0.0% 55.0% 0.4 1.0 1.4 0.2 0.2 0.4 1.8 Elysa Wesolek 16 3.5 44.4% 0.0% 75.0% 0.3 0.4 0.6 0.3 0.0 0.0 0.7 Olivia Thompson 9 3.8 14.3% 14.3% 0.0% 0.0 0.2 0.2 0.0 0.1 0.0 0.3 Raven Johnson 2 4.5 0.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0 0.5 0.5 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 Rankings[] Main article: 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings Regular Season Polls Poll Pre- Season Week 2 Week 3 Week 4 Week 5 Week 6 Week 7 Week 8 Week 9 Week 10 Week 11 Week 12 Week 13 Week 14 Week 15 Week 16 Week 17 Week 18 Week 19 Final AP 1 (14) 1 (25) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (29) 1 (30) 1 (22) 1 (26) 1 (28) 1 (29) 1 (29) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (30) 1 (17) 1 (20) 1 (20) Coaches 1 (13) 1 (13) 1 (31) 1 (32) 1 (32) 1 (32) 1 (31) 1 (32) 1 (16) 1 (24) 1 (26) 1 (31) 1 (31) 1 (31) 1 (31) 1 (31) 1 (31) 1 (19) 1 (27) Legend   Increase in ranking   Decrease in ranking   Not ranked previous week RV   Received votes NR   Not ranked ( )   Number of first place votes See also[] 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team References[] ^ "2021 women's college basketball recruiting class rankings". ESPN. Retrieved October 23, 2021. ^ "Team USA Women's Basketball Secures 7th Straight Gold Medal, Defeating Japan". NBC Sports. Retrieved August 8, 2021. ^ "South Carolina Gamecocks atop AP preseason women's college basketball poll again". ESPN. Retrieved October 23, 2021. ^ "South Carolina Takes Top Spot in Women's AP Preseason Top 25 Rankings". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved October 23, 2021. ^ "Women's college basketball rankings: South Carolina is No. 1". CBS Sports. Retrieved October 23, 2021. ^ "20 point guards named to watch list for 2022 Nancy Lieberman Award". NCAA. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "20 shooting guards named to 2022 Ann Meyers Drysdale Award watch list". NCAA. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "20 power forwards named to watch list for 2022 Katrina McClain Award". NCAA. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "20 centers named to 2022 Lisa Leslie Award watch list". NCAA. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "JOHN R. WOODEN AWARD PRESENTED BY WENDY'S ANNOUNCES 2021-22 WOMEN'S PRESEASON TOP 50 WATCHLIST". WoodenAward. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021. ^ "The Wade Trophy". WBCA. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021. ^ "Naismith Trophy". naismithtrophy. November 9, 2021. Retrieved November 11, 2021. ^ "Bueckers, Boston, Clark headline AP preseason All-Americans". AP News. October 26, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "SEC women's basketball coaches predictions for 2021-22 champion, preseason player of year". Knoxville News Sentinel. October 29, 2021. Retrieved October 30, 2021. ^ "Women's Basketball SEC Schedule Announced". GamecocksOnline.com. Retrieved October 27, 2021.