South Carolina Starts Campaign to Win Consecutive Titles

Under Dawn Staley, South Carolina’s women’s basketball team has become arguably the most dominant program in recent history. The program has won two National Championships, reached four Final Fours, won six SEC Tournaments, and claimed six SEC regular season titles under her tutelage.

Last year, they stormed to a 35-2 record while winning the SEC regular season championship and effortlessly rolling to another March Madness title.

This season, the Gamecocks lose starter Destanni Henderson but return a load of their production. Most notably, reigning Naismith Player of the Year, Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, and the NCAA Tournament’s Most Outstanding Player, Aliyah Boston returns for her senior season. Last year, Boston cemented herself as the country’s top player with 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds, two assists, 2.4 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. Her impressive offensive production combined with a stout defensive presence makes her undoubtedly the favorite to repeat as the national player of the year.

Along with Boston, other key players such as Zia Cooke, Victaria Saxton, Brea Beal, and Raven Johnson return.

Cooke has already claimed first and second All-SEC honors in her career and is one of the league’s best guards. Saxton is a solid option at forward who plays consistent defense. Beal is also an elite guard who has the ability to stretch the floor. Johnson redshirted her freshman year but was considered the No. 2 overall player in the 2021 class.

"Raven (Johnson) is fearless,” said Staley. “She just plays, and she doesn't think about her knee unless her knee brace strap comes loose. She has a great feel for the game ... she puts the ball where people should have it instead of where they want it. (There are) little nuances Raven (Johnson) brings to the table."

The Gamecocks also are now home to Ashlyn Watkins and Malaysia Cooper. The pair are both five-star freshmen who were ranked as the No. 12 and 18 recruits in their class, respectively.

So far, South Carolina has put one regular season game under its belt. On Monday, the Gamecocks demolished East Tennessee State 101-31.

To clear the bench and give ample playing time to the whole roster, six players reached double-digit points. Zia Cooke led the group with 17. Sania Feagin claimed 15 and Boston, Saxton, Watkins, and Kamilia Cardoso all finished with 11.

"I see us formulating great habits that we have in practice and seeing them in the game", Staley continues with, "It's hard to gauge exactly where we are, except you have instances tonight where you see us being able to play ball screens a little differently each quarter and be able to switch and play and not lose, and we haven't worked that a whole lot … but I saw us do a really good job executing that" Staley confirms.

Despite the win coming against an inferior opponent, the lopsided victory still showed how dominant the Gamecocks can be. Staley has her team ready to compete for another title and they are undoubtedly the front-runner up to this point.