‘Something incredible’: Columbia becomes a women’s hoops mecca for fans amid USC’s success
Friday was just the second day of spring, but it had a festive, carefree, “school’s out” sort of feel in various parts of downtown Columbia.
On a bright, sunny afternoon, the sounds of the University of South Carolina marching band rang out in the lobby of Columbia’s elegant Marriott hotel on Main Street. High-top tables and barstools across the Vista were filled with customers, many of whom were wearing garnet T-shirts or caps and had frosty mugs of beer at their fingertips. Smiling mothers and daughters and dads and friends stopped for photos outside of Colonial Life Arena, just steps away from a statue of A’ja Wilson.
Indeed, March Madness had arrived in Columbia, and USC’s vaunted women’s basketball team — the defending national champions — were starting a tourney run that players and fans alike hope will lead to another title.
USC is hosting a set of first and second round tournament games at Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks easily bested Tennessee Tech on Friday, while Indiana downed Utah. South Carolina and the Hoosiers will now meet on Sunday in the tournament’s round of 32.
Friday was a red-letter day for fans such as Columbia’s Temeika Cunningham, who was at the Marriott for a “send off” of the women’s team as it boarded the bus and left the hotel for the arena. Cunningham said she’s been a fan of the women’s program for more than 20 years.
“I was a fan and watching the basketball team and coming to the games when Susan Walvius was the coach and I could sit right behind the team or the analysts,” said Cunningham, who is a season ticketholder and even attended the Gamecocks’ season opening game in Paris, France in 2023.
“And now I’ve watched it grow and how Coach [Dawn] Staley has grown the game since taking over.”
Excitement for the the early rounds of the NCAA Tournament in downtown Columbia is likely not a surprise at this point. After all, Staley, in her 17th year at South Carolina, has built a true juggernaut in women’s hoops.
Under her leadership, the Gamecocks have won three national championships (including last season’s undefeated campaign), been to the Final Four six times, won nine SEC Tournament titles and nine SEC regular season championships. The program has sent numerous players into the WNBA and has become a bellwether for women’s basketball excellence. USC’s national championship game in 2024 against Iowa and sharp-shooting guard Caitlin Clark peaked at more than 24 million TV viewers, making it the most watched women’s basketball game of all-time.
But nowhere has the enthusiasm for Staley’s program been felt more stridently than in and around Colonial Life Arena, where crowds supporting the Gamecocks have continued to swell, year after year.
Consider this: The season before Staley arrived in Columbia, the women’s hoops team averaged about 1,800 fans per home game. Then, in Staley’s first season in 2008-09, the the team averaged about 2,800 fans per game, a number the university was so proud of at the time that it sent out a press release touting it. That would turn out to be a mere fraction of what was to come.
South Carolina has now led the nation in average women’s basketball attendance for 10 consecutive seasons. For the 2024-25 regular season, the Gamecocks averaged an eye-popping 17,000 fans per game, and sold more than 13,000 season tickets.
That level of excitement and turnout radiates across downtown Columbia, the Vista district and beyond, Columbia Mayor Daniel Rickenmann says. The mayor, a USC alum, says he entertains discussions about the USC’s women’s hoops team just about everywhere he goes.
“The women’s program has helped Columbia elevate,” Rickenmann said. “There truly isn’t a place that I travel in the U.S. where somebody doesn’t bring up Coach Staley and the women’s basketball team. We have fans across the country. People are intrigued, they are excited about it. I think it has been unbelievably elevating for the university. Think about what it means to our loyal fans, our restaurateurs, our hoteliers.
“That all plays into it. It has really helped elevate our community.”
Scott Powers is the executive director of Experience Columbia SC Sports, an arm of Columbia’s tourism and visitors bureau that focuses on supporting athletic events that come to the region. Powers noted that USC has now hosted first and second round NCAA Tournament games numerous times across Staley’s tenure, and those weekends are always a boost to the local economy.
“I know it seems like since Coach Staley has been here that this is just something that happens every year, but it’s not that easy,” Powers said. “I never want us to take it for granted. Twenty years ago when I first started, before Coach Staley was here, you hoped that every so often you’d be able to host [the NCAA] first and second round.”
‘It’s a human story’
Colonial Life Arena sits in the Vista, one of Columbia’s key hospitality and hotel districts. Abby Anderson, executive director of the Vista Guild organization that advocates for the district, said having early round NCAA Tournament games at the CLA is a boost for the neighborhood.
“It’s a big deal for our city, in general,” Anderson said. “People from all over come for these first round games and they are visiting the city, in addition to the Vista. You can come [to the Vista] and park your car and you are just steps from the arena and any of our fabulous restaurants or bars. You can walk in an art gallery and experience what the Vista has.”
On Friday afternoon, the Thirsty Fellow Pizzeria & Pub on Gadsden Street in the Vista was filled with hoops fans in USC gear, enjoying pizza, cheesesteaks, cocktails and more before the Gamecocks’ tilt against Tennessee Tech. Thirsty Fellow is literally steps away from Colonial Life Arena, and has become a reliable pregame and postgame hangout for USC fans.
Friends Tivona Taylor and Marilyn Inabinette, each from Columbia, say they often hit the Thirsty Fellow before ballgames. They were there Friday, enjoying a bite to eat before the tournament tipped off. Taylor and Inabinette are each season ticketholders — they’ve got eight tickets between them — and said the appeal of the USC women’s program goes beyond simply the team’s championship pedigree.
“I think it’s because Dawn Staley is so relatable,” Taylor said. “She is just a real girl from Philly. You can relate to her. She’s more than a coach to these girls. She is a mother figure, she’s a big sister and she teaches them life beyond basketball. And we can relate to that. Young girls need that. It just works. It’s a human story.”
Anderson said it has been extraordinary to see the growth of the USC women’s program and the the swell of attendance for basketball games. When the team is averaging 17,000 fans per game during the regular season, that impact is felt in the Vista.
“So many people come and park close by and say, ‘Hey, we’re going to get here at 5 o’clock for a 7 o’clock game and get something to eat,’ and spend some time in our district as they are preparing for the game,” Anderson said. “We’ve definitely felt that on nights they are here. Our hotels see it. It’s a big deal, top to bottom, that they’ve been so successful for so long.”
Columbia’s Rocky Easterling was at the bar at Thirsty Fellow ahead of Friday’s USC-Tennessee Tech game, enjoying a drink before heading over to the arena. He had on a cutoff Gamecocks women’s basketball T-shirt and his legs featured tattoos commemorating USC’s national championships.
Easterling said he’s been going to USC women’s hoops games for 14 years, and attends nearly every game. He said Staley has created an environment that makes fans of all stripes feel welcome.
“She’s just such an original person,” Easterling said. “She just draws people in and she’s authentic. She does everything for the community and is just a wonderful person.”
‘A sport that deserves to be elevated’
Rickenmann, in his first term as Columbia’s mayor after a long run on city council, said Staley has been ascendant as South Carolina’s coach, and that vibe has translated over to the city itself.
“We have embraced a sport that deserved to be elevated,” Rickenmann said. “It deserves to have a strong fanbase. And it has been done watching a coach take her players to the next level at every point. She is teaching them there are no barriers. We can do whatever we put our mind to, and people support that.”
Columbia’s Kris Fink was among the pregame crowd at Thirsty Fellow on Friday. A longtime women’s basketball enthusiast and a former coach, Fink said she’s been a USC season ticketholder since Staley began her tenure in Columbia.
Fink said the USC women’s program has found the perfect mix of winning play and community engagement for success in Columbia.
“One, they love winners,” Fink said of the fanbase. “But I think Dawn has also embraced the community. ... She is a part of the community that gives back. It speaks highly of her and of Columbia, as well. There is a feeling we are all in this together.”
Local residents and fans shouldn’t take the Gamecocks’ success, and the impact it has on downtown and the city, for granted, Anderson said.
“It’s remarkable and very special to see what its happening right here in our town,” Anderson said. “There is something really incredible happening here. ... The vibrancy that happens in Columbia because of the women’s basketball team is pretty incredible.”
This story was originally published March 22, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
