USC women’s ultimate goal: Taking the next step in the NCAAs

She’s been waiting for this for seven months. They’ve been waiting for this for seven months.

Since the horn sounded on an agonizing one-point loss to Notre Dame in the Final Four, Dawn Staley and her South Carolina Gamecocks have been aching to get back out on the floor. While Staley has been quick to point out that this year’s team isn’t last year’s team, this year’s team is still devastatingly talented – and one that might reach its ultimate goal.

“Last year, we worked for that. It wasn’t something that came easy,” Staley said. “I want them to be confident but I also want them to respect the journey, because it’s a long journey and it’s a journey in which, if they’re disciplined enough, we can get back and maybe take a step further. That’s our ultimate goal.”

The nation is watching, anointing the Gamecocks the No. 2 team in the country and preseason SEC champions. South Carolina is watching, with the team already selling 10,000 season tickets and leaving no doubt that at some point this year, Colonial Life Arena will have its first sellout for a women’s basketball game.

It’s been eight years since Staley suffered through a 10-win season where she lost her two best players to injury. That inaugural year is never far from her mind – a survivor to her core, Staley weathered the negative waves, began winning, began winning recruiting battles and arrived here.

The Gamecocks have won 63 games in two years, two SEC regular-season championships, one SEC tournament and advanced to the NCAA Final Four last year in their fourth straight tournament appearance. They have two-time SEC Player of the Year and consensus All-American Tiffany Mitchell, SEC Freshman of the Year A’ja Wilson and all-SEC selection Alaina Coates. The ACC’s leading rebounder, Sarah Imovbioh, graduated from Virginia and decided on USC for her final year of eligibility.

USC has been dominant the past two years and while it lost a huge piece of that in graduated senior Aleighsa Welch, the Gamecocks are still loaded. They’ll get several chances to prove it – No. 6 Ohio State starts the season, No. 14 Duke, No. 15 Arizona State and No. 1 Connecticut dot the schedule and that’s not even discussing a stacked SEC, including traditional power Tennessee.

The Gamecocks are prepared. They’ve added speed to their game, Staley wanting to avoid a plodding offense. It will identify a different sort of leadership, but hopefully one that achieves the same results.

Staley waited to get to this level, waited to get back to the Final Four, where she participated three times as a player.

The wait for a national championship continues … but perhaps not for too much longer.

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 12:46 PM.