Why South Carolina women’s basketball is the best team in the country
Before South Carolina’s opener versus Notre Dame in Paris, coach Dawn Staley said she thought the Gamecocks’ No. 6 preseason AP Top 25 ranking was generous.
She told local reporters in September that summer workouts weren’t overly impressive, giving shades of 2009 — Staley’s first season when South Carolina finished with an 11-18 record.
But two things happened over the last week: USC demolished No. 10 Notre Dame 100-71 last Monday on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. Six days later the Gamecocks walloped the No. 14 Maryland Terrapins 114-76, marking the largest margin of victory and most points scored against a ranked opponent in program history. South Carolina had seven players reach double-digit points in Sunday’s win.
Maryland coach Brenda Frese made a bold declaration: “I actually think they’re better than last year’s team.”
Better than the first regular-season undefeated squad in program history? Better than the 2022-23 wire-to-wire Associated Press No. 1? Better than the Freshies-fueled Final Four team?
Yeah.
As inconceivable as it seemed a few weeks ago, it’s now easy to see. These Gamecocks are better, and they’re better than any other team in the country. Monday’s new AP Top 25 reflected as much, with USC vaulting to No. 1 in the rankings.
No one in the nation has such high-quality wins in such dominating fashion as the South Carolina Gamecocks do through the first week of college basketball season. The teams ranked ahead of USC? No. 1 LSU (lost to No. 20 Colorado), No. 2 UConn (lost to N.C. State), No. 3 Iowa (beat No. 8 Virginia Tech by four, FDU and Northern Iowa), No. 4 UCLA (beat Purdue, UC Riverside and Bellarmine) and No. 5 Utah (beat Mississippi Valley State and S.C. State).
Yes, there were understandable question marks during the preseason:
▪ Would outside shooting remain an Achilles heel?
▪ What about the experience vacuum left by the class of 2019? (Raven Johnson led the team with three career starts in garnet and black.)
▪ With five new faces, how long would it take for this team to mesh?
Two games in and we have those answers: No; doesn’t matter; and no time at all.
AP voters (including myself) never saw it coming. Staley didn’t either.
“We’ve come a long way,” Staley said Sunday. “If you could have seen June, July, August, if you could have seen that, you would be sitting where I’m sitting where it was unimaginable for us to even think about what we (have been) able to do the first two games of the season.”
But Staley, of course, is insatiable. Amid questions about record-setting offense against Maryland, she brings up the 76 points allowed as a wrinkle in their performance. She and her players say they pay rankings very little mind, but they’ve more than made their case for the top slot.
What makes this Gamecocks team so good is how well-rounded it is. Still dominant in the paint, scoring 70 points there against Notre Dame — more than any game last season with both Kamilla Cardoso and Aliyah Boston. Still playing great defense — combining for 65 defensive rebounds, 22 blocks and 21 steals in two games.
But now also shooting and sharing the basketball, having 59 total assists this year.
“I can’t remember a team from South Carolina having 50 points at halftime and 100-plus for a game,” Frese said Sunday. “You just see how many weapons (they have).”
Sophomore forward Chloe Kitts summed it up pretty well Sunday: “We do everything. So I guess we’ll see where it goes. But I know we’re good. We just have to continue what we’re doing and listen to the coaches.”
Rutgers coach Coquese Washington said of the Gamecocks after their exhibition last month: “It’s still South Carolina. The names and faces change, but they’re a very, very talented team.”
She’s right, to an extent. It is still South Carolina, and it is a very, very talented team. But it’s different from South Carolinas of old. And that’s why the return to No. 1 makes sense.
AP Top 25
First-place votes in parenthesis
- 1. South Carolina (23)
- 2. Iowa (13)
- 3. UCLA
- 4. Utah
- 5. Colorado
- 6. Stanford
- 7. LSU
- 8. UConn
- 9. Virginia Tech
- 10. Southern Cal
- 11. Texas
- 12. FSU
- 13. Ohio State
- 14. NC State
- 15. Tennessee
- 16. Notre Dame
- 17. UNC
- 18. Indiana
- 19. Louisville
- 20. Maryland
- 21. Baylor
- 22. Creighton
- 23. Ole Miss
- 24. Washington State
- 25. Oklahoma
Others receiving votes: Mississippi St. 51, Kansas St 31, Kansas 15, Texas A&M 10, Duke 7, Marquette 4, Miami 3, UNLV 2, Illinois 1, Drake 1, Arizona 1.
This story was originally published November 13, 2023 at 7:00 AM.
