Dawn Staley headed home to Philly for matchup against former team

Dawn Staley is headed home and bringing her South Carolina women’s basketball team with her.

The defending national champions will travel to Philadelphia, Staley’s hometown, for a matchup with Temple on Dec. 21 as the Owls released their nonconference schedule Thursday.

The game will be played at Liacouras Center, where the Temple men play instead of McGonigle Hall.

Staley, the USC women’s coach, played high school basketball at Philadelphia’s Dobbins Tech High. She returned to her hometown and coached Temple from 2000-08.

Staley guided the Owls to a 172-80 record and six NCAA tournaments before leaving to take the job at South Carolina.

USC is coming off a 33-4 season and won its first national championship. The Gamecocks have yet to release their full schedule.

This story was originally published August 10, 2017 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Dawn Staley headed home to Philly for matchup against former team."