South Carolina’s WBB Final Four chances suddenly feel not so certain
The inevitability is now a mere hope. No longer does making the Final Four — let alone cutting down the nets in April — feel like a guarantee for South Carolina women’s basketball. The possibility is still there — high even. But where there was certainty, there is now doubt.
Because South Carolina did not just lose on Sunday, it fell at home in a building where the Gamecocks have walked out as victors the past 71 games over the course of 1,536 days. And they did not just fall at home, they got throttled at home — something that hasn’t happened since Baylor stomped them by 25 ... over six years ago.
“Major implosion for us,” said USC coach Dawn Staley.
No. 7 UConn’s 87-58 victory over fourth-ranked South Carolina (23-3) on Sunday puts Staley and her team in a precarious position.
The 29-point defeat came just hours after the Gamecocks were ranked as the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s first Top 16 rankings. Does a blowout loss to a squad that was slotted seventh in those same rankings merit a freefall? Absolutely not. But it does thrust USC on the bubble of being a No. 1 seed — and certainly diminishes the chances of the Gamecocks being the tournament’s top overall seed.
And why is that important? In all six of Staley’s Final Four appearances, the Gamecocks were a No. 1 seed. As far as the top-overall seed, just look at last season. By being the top team in the tournament, the Gamecocks avoided playing Texas, UConn, Southern Cal, LSU, etc. They earned the easiest possible path to a national title — and capitalized.
It must also be said: Only half the teams in last year’s Final Four were No. 1 seeds. The same was true in 2023. So it’s not impossible to play the final weekend as a non-No. 1 seed. Nor is it impossible for this South Carolina team to still earn a No. 1 seed.
Yes, USC has three losses for the first time since the 2020-21 season — the same season in which the Gamecocks suffered their last home loss before Sunday (vs. N.C. State on Dec. 3, 2020). It was also the last time they lost to UConn (an OT defeat in Storrs, Connecticut).
And still, even with five losses and the home defeat that started a four-plus-year streak, South Carolina earned a No. 1 seed and made the Final Four. So there is precedent.
“This season is a long season, right?” Staley said. “You play a team like UConn right now (and) you win, it may have some ill effects in the next game you lose. And it definitely will wake you up. Hopefully it’ll be the latter.”
For as much as women’s basketball has evolved over the past decade, the sport still lacks widespread parity. UConn coach Geno Auriemma — an 11-time national champ who’s probably been asked about parity more than anyone — admitted the sport has seen the emergence of more “really, really, really good teams.”
And yet, Auriemma said, the number of “great teams” has remained constant. Even after Sunday’s result, South Carolina is still elite. There are only a handful of teams in America who could even dream of beating the Gamecocks.
The good and bad news: USC has already played most of them.
The Gamecocks’ losses are to No. 1 UCLA, No. 3 Texas (they also beat the Longhorns in Columbia) and, now, No. 7 UConn. That should not signal panic. But it does prove the Gamecocks are beatable — which hasn’t felt like the case for three years.
So what does this all mean? Maybe nothing. South Carolina has just one ranked team left on its regular-season schedule — No. 8 Kentucky — then it’s off to the SEC Tournament, where the Gamecocks could still be the top seed — potentially barring a legitimate coin flip.
Cut down the nets in Greenville and the odds of No. 1 seed are high. From there, the Gamecocks are back on track. Perhaps a 2025 run to the Final Four would be sweeter than the 2024 run, when the only adversity was the chase of an undefeated season.
Maybe Sunday was a signal that things won’t be so easy. That the loss of Ashlyn Watkins made the Gamecocks vulnerable. That along its NCAA Tournament path, South Carolina will face teams that can actually beat them. That maybe, just maybe, USC won’t make the Final Four for the first time since 2019.
Who said there’s no parity in this sport?
This story was originally published February 16, 2025 at 7:01 PM.
