South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball

South Carolina Gamecocks
2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team
University	University of South Carolina
All-time record	930–533 (.636)
Athletic director	Ray Tanner
Head coach	Dawn Staley (14th season)
Conference	SEC
Location	Columbia, South Carolina
Arena	Colonial Life Arena (Capacity: 18,000)
Nickname	Gamecocks
Colors	Garnet and black[1]
Uniforms
Home Away Alternate
NCAA Tournament Champions
2017
NCAA Tournament Final Four
2015, 2017, 2021
NCAA Tournament Elite Eight
2002, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021
NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1982, 1990, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament Second round
1982, 1988, 1990, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
NCAA Tournament Appearances
1982, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021
AIAW Tournament Final Four
1980
AIAW Tournament Elite Eight
1980
AIAW Tournament Sweet Sixteen
1980
AIAW Tournament Appearances
1978, 1979, 1980, 1981
Conference tournament champions
Metro Conference: 1986, 1988, 1989 SEC: 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021
Conference regular season champions
Metro Conference: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991 SEC: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2020

The South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina and competes in the Southeastern Conference (SEC). 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.

History[]

The Gamecocks first competed at an intercollegiate level in women's basketball in 1923, when they were called the Pullets (a young domestic hen, a play off "Gamecocks," which is a rooster).

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 . 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 (now Conference USA after the 1995 reunification), the Lady Gamecocks won the regular season championship five times and the conference tournament three times.^[2]

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 (16–0), 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. When the COVID-19 pandemic ended the season prematurely on March 12, South Carolina was ranked at the top of the AP and coaches' polls. Due to the unprecedented abrupt ending to the season following the SEC Championship win, Staley said they should be claimed Champions, but never took any real steps to claim one. To honor the seniors the program raised a banner highlighting finishing #1 in the polls on December 31, 2020, at the 2020–21 season opener.^[3] In 2021, the team reached the Final Four losing to Stanford by a point.

Current 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: November 18th, 2021

Head coaches[]

Name	Years	Seasons	Games	Won	Lost	Pct.
Pam Backhaus	1974–1975 1976–1977	2	56	26	30	.464
Frankie Porter	1975–1976	1	22	7	15	.318
Pam Parsons	1977–1981	5	144	101	43	.747
Terry Kelly	1982–1984	3	82	50	32	.610
Nancy Wilson	1984–1997	13	380	231	149	.608
Susan Walvius	1997–2008	11	325	165	160	.508
Dawn Staley	2008–present	14	445	342	103	.769
All-Time		48	1442	911	532	.631

Year-by-year results[]

Conference tournament winners noted with # Source^[4]

Season	Team	Overall	Conference	Standing	Postseason	Coaches' poll	AP poll
Pam Backhaus (Independent) (1974–1975)
1974–75	Pam Backhaus	18–12	–		AIAW Region II
Frankie Porter (Independent) (1975–1976)
1975–76	Frankie Porter	7–15	–
Frankie Porter:		7–15 (.318)	–
Pam Backhaus (Independent) (1976–1977)
1976–77	Pam Backhaus	8–18	–		SCAIAW
Pam Backhaus:		26–30 (.464)	–
Pam Parsons (Independent) (1977–1982)
1977–78	Pam Parsons	24–10	–		AIAW Region II
1978–79	Pam Parsons	27–10	–		AIAW Region II, NWIT Champions		15
1979–80	Pam Parsons	30–6	–		AIAW Third Place		4
1980–81	Pam Parsons	13-17	–		AIAW Region II
1981	Pam Parsons	7–0	–
Pam Parsons:		101–43 (.701)	–
Terry Kelly (Independent, Metro) (1982–1985)
1982	Terry Kelly	16–8	–		NCAA Sweet Sixteen
1982–83	Terry Kelly	16–12	–
1983–84	Terry Kelly	18–12	7–3
Terry Kelly:		50–32 (.610)	7–3 (.700)
Nancy Wilson (Metro, SEC) (1984–1997)
1984–85	Nancy Wilson	18–10	8–3
1985–86	Nancy Wilson	19–11	9–1	1st	NCAA First Round
1986–87	Nancy Wilson	18–12	8–4
1987–88	Nancy Wilson	23–11	10–2	1st	NCAA Second Round	24
1988–89	Nancy Wilson	23–7	10–2	1st	NCAA First Round	22	17
1989–90	Nancy Wilson	24–9	13–1		NCAA Sweet Sixteen	16	19
1990–91	Nancy Wilson	22–9	12–2		NCAA First Round
1991–92	Nancy Wilson	13–15	2–9	12th (SEC)
1992–93	Nancy Wilson	17–10	5–6	T-6th
1993–94	Nancy Wilson	14–13	2–9	T-10th
1994–95	Nancy Wilson	12–15	1–10	T-10th
1995–96	Nancy Wilson	16–12	2–9	T-11th
1996–97	Nancy Wilson	12–15	1–11	T-11th
Nancy Wilson:		231–149 (.608)	83–69 (.546)
Susan Walvius (SEC) (1997–2008)
1997–98	Susan Walvius	13–15	3–11	T-11th
1998–99	Susan Walvius	11–16	0–14	12th
1999–2000	Susan Walvius	13–15	3–11	11th
2000–01	Susan Walvius	11–17	6–8	T-6th
2001–02	Susan Walvius	25–7	10–4	T-2nd	NCAA Elite Eight	6	13
2002–03	Susan Walvius	23–8	9–5	T-5th	NCAA Second Round	18	16
2003–04	Susan Walvius	10–18	1–13	12th
2004–05	Susan Walvius	8–21	2–12	12th
2005–06	Susan Walvius	17–12	7–7	7th	WNIT Second Round
2006–07	Susan Walvius	18–15	6–8	T-7th	WNIT Third Round
2007–08	Susan Walvius	16–16	4–10	T-9th	WNIT Second Round
Susan Walvius:		165–160 (.508)	51–103 (.331)
Dawn Staley (SEC) (2008–present)
2008–09	Dawn Staley	10–18	2–12	11th
2009–10	Dawn Staley	14–15	7–9	T-7th
2010–11	Dawn Staley	18–15	8–8	T-5th	WNIT Second Round
2011–12	Dawn Staley	25–10	10–6	T-4th	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	21	25
2012–13	Dawn Staley	25–8	11–5	T-4th	NCAA Second Round	14	17
2013–14	Dawn Staley	29–5	14–2	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	8	9
2014–15	Dawn Staley	34–3	15–1	1st	NCAA Final Four	3	4
2015–16	Dawn Staley	33–2	16–0	1st	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	3	5
2016–17	Dawn Staley	33–4	14–2	1st	NCAA Champions	1	1
2017–18	Dawn Staley	29–7	12–4	T-2nd	NCAA Elite Eight	6	7
2018–19	Dawn Staley	23–10	13–3	2nd	NCAA Sweet Sixteen	13	15
2019–20	Dawn Staley	32–1	16–0	1st	Canceled due to COVID-19	1	1
2020–21	Dawn Staley	26–5	14–2	2nd	NCAA Final Four	5	6
2021–22	Dawn Staley	20–1	8–1			1	1
Dawn Staley:		351–104 (.771)	160–55 (.744)
Total:		929–532 (.636)
National champion         Postseason invitational champion         Conference regular season champion         Conference regular season and conference tournament champion       Division regular season champion       Division regular season and conference tournament champion       Conference tournament champion

NCAA Tournament results[]

Year	Seed	Round	Opponent	Result
1982	#3	First Round Sweet Sixteen	#6 East Carolina #2 Kentucky	W 79-54 L 69-73
1986	#7	First Round	#10 Middle Tenn	L 77-78
1988	#8	First Round Second Round	#9 Alabama #1 Texas	W 77-63 L 58-77
1989	#6	First Round	#11 Tennessee Tech	L 73-77
1990	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Bowling Green #4 Northwestern #1 Washington	W 93-50 W 76-67 L 61-73
1991	#7	First Round	#10 Vanderbilt	L 64-73
2002	#3	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#14 Liberty #6 Cincinnati #7 Drake #1 Duke	W 69-61 W 75-56 W 79-65 L 68-77
2003	#5	First Round Second Round	#12 UT Chattanooga #4 Penn State	W 68-54 L 67-77
2012	#5	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#12 Eastern Michigan #4 Purdue #1 Stanford	W 80-48 W 72-61 L 60-76
2013	#4	First Round Second Round	#13 South Dakota State #12 Kansas	W 74-53 L 69-75
2014	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Cal St Northridge #9 Oregon State #4 North Carolina	W 73-58 W 78-69 L 58-65
2015	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Savannah State #8 Syracuse #4 North Carolina #2 Florida State #1 Notre Dame	W 81-48 W 97-68 W 67-65 W 80-74 L 65-66
2016	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#16 Jacksonville #9 Kansas State #4 Syracuse	W 77-41 W 73-47 L 72-80
2017	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Title Game	#16 UNC Asheville #8 Arizona State #12 Quinnipiac #3 Florida State #2 Stanford #2 Mississippi State	W 90-40 W 71-68 W 100-58 W 71-64 W 62-53 W 67-55
2018	#2	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight	#15 North Carolina A&T #10 Virginia #11 Buffalo #1 Connecticut	W 63-52 W 66-56 W 79-63 L 65-94
2019	#4	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#13 Belmont #5 Florida State #1 Baylor	W 74-52 W 72-64 L 68-93
2021	#1	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four	#16 Mercer #8 Oregon State #5 Georgia Tech #6 Texas #1 Stanford	W 79-53 W 59-42 W 76-65 W 62-34 L 65-66

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 Gamecocks opened the newly constructed Colonial Life Arena (then known as Carolina Center; the arena's deal with Unum was signed a year later) would be with $1 admission night, leading to a crowd 17,712 saw the Gamecocks defeat the archrival Clemson Lady Tigers.^[5] 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:

Date	Attendance	Opponent	Result
03-01-2020	18,000	Texas A&M	W 60–52
02-10-2020	18,000	Connecticut	W 70–52
03-03-2019	18,000	Mississippi State	L 68–64
02-01-2018	18,000	Connecticut	L 58–83
02-26-2017	18,000	Kentucky	W 95–87
02-08-2016	18,000	Connecticut	L 66–54
11-22-2002	17,712	Clemson	W 72–58
01-11-2015	17,156	Kentucky	W 68–60
11-13-2015	16,815	Ohio State	W 88–80
01-02-2015	16,465	Auburn	W 77–58
12-06-2015	16,429	Duke	W 66–55
02-28-2016	16,240	LSU	W 75–39
02-18-2016	16,186	Georgia	W 61–51

South Carolina has led the nation in attendance every season since 2014–15, with the exception of 2020 which was limited due to COVID. The Gamecocks have averaged over 10,000 fans in 92 consecutive regular season home games.

Year Games Overall W–L Overall Win Pct NCAA W–L NCAA Win Pct Total Attendance (SEC/Nat Rank) Avg Attendance (SEC/Nat Rank) 2014–15 16 16–0 1.000 2–0 1.000 196,684 (1st/1st) 12,293 (1st/1st) 2015–16 17 16–1 0.941 2–0 1.000 244,196 (1st/1st) 14,364 (1st/1st) 2016–17 16 15–1 0.938 2–0 1.000 196,431 (1st/1st) 12,277 (1st/1st) 2017–18 17 15–2 0.882 2–0 1.000 225,064 (1st/1st) 13,239 (1st/1st) 2018–19 17* 13–4 0.765 2–0 1.000 176,904 (1st/2nd) 10,406 (1st/1st) 2019–20 15 15–0 1.000 0–0 183,272 (1st/1st) 12,218 (1st/1st) Totals 88 90–8 0.918 10–0 1.000 1,222,551 12,466

* The 2019 NCAA Tournament games were played in Halton Arena, Charlotte, NC

Notes[]

• Between losses to Texas A&M on February 10, 2013 and Connecticut on February 8th 2016, the Gamecocks won 45 consecutive games at home.
• As of June 20th, 2021, the Gamecocks have drawn over 10,000 fans in 92 consecutive regular season home games

Notable players[]

Gamecocks in the WNBA[]

Player	Draft	Seasons	Notes
Shannon Johnson	1999 – Orlando	11	(1999–2009) Last with the Seattle Storm
Shaunzinski Gortman	2002 – 9th by Charlotte	5	(2002–2006) Last with the Seattle Storm
Jocelyn Penn	2003 – 9th by Charlotte	2	(2003–2004) Last with the San Antonio Stars
Tiffany Mitchell	2016 – 9th by Indiana	6	(2016–Present) Indiana Fever
Alaina Coates	2017 – 2nd by Chicago	4	(2017–Present) Currently a Free agent
Allisha Gray	2017 – 4th by Dallas	5	(2017–Present) Dallas Wings, 2017 WNBA Rookie of the Year
Kaela Davis	2017 – 10th by Dallas	5	(2017–Present) Atlanta Dream
A'ja Wilson	2018 – 1st by Las Vegas	4	(2018–Present) Las Vegas Aces, 2020 WNBA Most Valuable Player
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan	2020 – 6th by Minnesota	2	(2020–Present) Seattle Storm
Tyasha Harris	2020 – 7th by Dallas	2	(2020–Present) Dallas Wings

Also drafted:

• Teresa Geter – 2002 – 36th by Washington
• Petra Ujhelyi – 2003 – 16th by Phoenix
• Aleighsa Welch – 2015 – 22nd by Chicago

Retired jerseys[]

South Carolina has retired two jersey numbers.^[6]

No.	Player	Career
13	Martha Parker	1985–1989
53	Sheila Foster	1978–1982

Player and coach awards[]

National player awards[]

• All-Americans

Katrina Anderson - 1979

Tiffany Mitchell – 2015

A'ja Wilson – 2016, 2017, 2018

Tyasha Harris – 2020

Aliyah Boston – 2020, 2021

• Wade Trophy

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• Honda Sports Award

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• Naismith College Player of the Year

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• John R. Wooden Award

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• USBWA Women's National Player of the Year

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• AP College Player of the Year

A'ja Wilson – 2018

• Academic All-American of the Year

Aliyah Boston – 2021

• Lisa Leslie Award

Aliyah Boston – 2020

Aliyah Boston – 2021

• USBWA National Freshman of the Year

Aliyah Boston – 2020

• Dawn Staley Award

Tiffany Mitchell – 2015

Tyasha Harris – 2020

• Tamika Catchings Award (USBWA)

Aliyah Boston – 2020

• USBWA National Freshman of the Year

Aliyah Boston – 2020

• espnW Freshman of the Year

Aliyah Boston – 2020

National coach awards[]

• Naismith College Coach of the Year

Dawn Staley – 2020

• WBCA National Coach of the Year

Dawn Staley – 2020

• AP Coach of the Year

Dawn Staley – 2020

• USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year

Dawn Staley – 2020

• espnW Coach of the Year

Dawn Staley – 2020

SEC Awards[]

• Coach of the Year

Susan Walvius – 2002

Dawn Staley – 2014, 2015*, 2016, 2020

• Player of the Year

Tiffany Mitchell – 2014, 2015

A'ja Wilson – 2016, 2017, 2018

• SEC Tournament MVP

Aleighsa Welch – 2015

Tiffany Mitchell – 2016

A'ja Wilson – 2017

A'ja Wilson – 2018

Mikiah Herbert Harrigan – 2020

Aliyah Boston – 2021

• Defensive Player of the Year

Ieasia Walker – 2013

A'ja Wilson – 2016

Aliyah Boston – 2020

Aliyah Boston – 2021*

• Freshman of the Year

Kelsey Bone – 2010

Alaina Coates – 2014

A'ja Wilson – 2015

Aliyah Boston – 2020

• 6th Player of the Year

Alaina Coates – 2014*

• WBB Scholar Athlete of the Year

Aleighsa Welch – 2015

* Denotes Co-Player / Co-Coach

Metro awards[]

• Coach of the Year

Nancy Wilson – 1985, 1991

• Player of the Year

Brantley Southers – 1986

Martha Parker – 1988, 1989

Beth Hunt – 1990

• Newcomer of the Year

Martha Parker – 1986

Schonna Banner – 1987

• Tournament MVP

Brantley Southers – 1986

Martha Parker – 1988

Beth Hunt – 1989

References[]

External links[]

• Official website