2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks were led by 14th-year head coach Dawn Staley and played their home games at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC. They competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 35–2, 15–1 in SEC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Arkansas and Ole Miss to advance to the championship of the SEC Tournament where they lost to Kentucky. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Greensboro region. They defeated Howard, Miami, North Carolina, Creighton and Louisville to advance to the championship game. There they defeated UConn for the team's second-ever national title.

2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
NCAA tournament National champions
Battle 4 Atlantis champions
SEC regular season champions
ConferenceSoutheastern Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 1
APNo. 1
Record35–2 (15–1 SEC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
Home arenaColonial Life Arena
Seasons
2021–22 SEC women's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 1 South Carolina 15 1   .938 35 2   .946
No. 9 LSU 13 3   .813 26 6   .813
No. 18 Tennessee 11 5   .688 25 9   .735
Ole Miss 10 6   .625 23 9   .719
Florida 10 6   .625 21 11   .656
Georgia 9 7   .563 21 10   .677
No. 15 Kentucky 8 8   .500 19 12   .613
Missouri 7 9   .438 18 13   .581
Arkansas 7 9   .438 18 14   .563
Alabama 6 10   .375 20 14   .588
Mississippi State 6 10   .375 15 14   .517
Texas A&M 4 12   .250 14 15   .483
Vanderbilt 4 12   .250 16 19   .457
Auburn 2 14   .125 10 18   .357
2022 SEC tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

Aliyah Boston won Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Dawn Staley was named Naismith Coach of the Year. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in both polls for the entire year, and finished ranked No. 1 in the AP, Coaches, NET, RPI, ELO, SOS and Massey rankings.[1][2]

Previous season edit

The Gamecocks finished the season with a 26–5 overall record and a 14–2 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they reached the Final Four, losing to Stanford 66–65.

Offseason edit

2021 recruiting class edit

The Gamecocks signed the #1 class for 2021 according to ESPN.[3] their second #1 class in three years.

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes
Name Hometown High school / college Height Weight Commit date
Raven Johnson
#1 PG
Atlanta, GA Westlake 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) N/A Jun 25, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 98
Saniya Rivers
#2 G
Wilmington, NC Eugene Ashley 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) N/A May 30, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 98
Sania Feagin
#1 F
Ellenwood, GA Forest Park 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) N/A Jun 3, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 98
Aubryanna Hall
#5 G
Dayton, OH Wayne 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m) N/A May 25, 2020 
Recruiting star ratings: ScoutN/A   RivalsN/A   247SportsN/A    ESPN:    ESPN grade: 96
Overall recruiting rankings:   ESPN: 1
  • Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight.
  • In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale.

Sources:

  • "2021 South Carolina Gamecocks Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on September 29, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2021.

Incoming transfers edit

Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
Kamilla Cardoso 10 C 6'8" Sophomore Montes Claros, BR Transferred from Syracuse.

Preseason edit

Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley enters her fourteenth year at South Carolina, fresh off winning an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning all six games as head coach of Team USA.[4]

South Carolina was named AP preseason #1 for the second straight season, as they return every player from last years Final Four team, added the #1 recruiting class, adding four 5 star recruits, three of which were ranked in the top 5. They also added ACC Freshman of the year and former 5 star recruit 6'8 Kamillia Cardoso.[5][6][7]


Award watch lists edit

Award Player Position Year
Nancy Lieberman Award[8] Destanni Henderson PG SR
Ann Meyers Drysdale Award[9] Zia Cooke SG JR
Katrina McClain Award[10] Sania Feagin PF FR
Lisa Leslie Award[11] Aliyah Boston C JR
Kamilla Cardoso C SO
Wooden Award[12] Aliyah Boston C JR
Zia Cooke SG JR
Destanni Henderson PG SR
Wade Trophy[13] Aliyah Boston C JR
Zia Cooke SG JR
Naismith Trophy[14] Aliyah Boston C JR
Zia Cooke SG JR
Destanni Henderson PG SR

Preseason All-American teams edit