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 The Colonial Life Arena is a multi-purpose arena in Columbia, South Carolina, primarily home to the University of South Carolina men's and women's basketball teams. Opened as a replacement for the Carolina Coliseum with the name Carolina Center ...

Columbia, SC Columbia is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is List of municipalities in South Carolina, the second-largest ...

. They competed as members of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is an American college athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central and Southeastern United States. Its fourteen members include the flagship public universities of ...

(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 Greensboro (; formerly Greensborough) is a city in and the county seat of Guilford County, North Carolina, United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, third-most populous city in North Carolina after Charlotte, North Car ...

region. They defeated Howard, Miami, North Carolina, Creighton and Louisville to advance to the championship game. There they defeated

UConn The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Ha ...

for the team's second-ever national title.

Aliyah Boston Aliyah Boston (born December 11, 2001) is an American college basketball player for the South Carolina Gamecocks of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). She plays the power forward and center positions. Born in Saint Thomas, United States Virgin ...

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.

Previous season

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 Southeastern Conference (SEC) sponsors nine men's sports and twelve women's sports. This is a list of conference champions for each sport. Also see the list of SEC national champions. Members The SEC was established on December 1932, when t ...

. 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

2021 recruiting class

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

Incoming transfers

Preseason

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 The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...

winning all six games as head coach of

Team USA The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. 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.

Award watch lists

Preseason All-American teams

First team

– C

SEC coaches poll

The SEC coaches selected the Gamecocks to finish in first place in the SEC.

Preseason All-SEC teams

First team Aliyah Boston – C Zia Cooke – SG Second team Destanni Henderson – PG

Roster

Starting lineup

Schedule

, - !colspan=9 style=, Exhibition , - !colspan=9 style=, Regular season , - !colspan=9 style=, SEC Tournament , - !colspan=9 style=, NCAA Tournament

Statistics

Team total per game

Team average per game

Individual total per game

Individual average per game

Rankings

Awards and honors

* Aliyah Boston ** Naismith Player of the Year ** United States Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year **

Wade Trophy The Wade Trophy is an award presented annually to the best upperclass women's basketball player in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. It is named after three–time national champion Delta State University coac ...

John R. Wooden Award The John R. Wooden Award is an award given annually to the most outstanding men's and women's college basketball players. The program consists of the men's and women's Player of the Year awards, the Legends of Coaching award, and recognizing the ...

** Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's Player of the Year ** Associated Press Player of the Year ** Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year **

NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player At the conclusion of the NCAA men's and women's Division I basketball championships (the "Final Four" tournaments), a media panel selects a Most Outstanding Player (MOP). It is usually awarded to a member of the championship team. There have been ...

** Lisa Leslie Award ** Academic All-American of the Year **

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...

first-team All-American **

United States Basketball Writers Association The United States Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) was founded in 1956 by National Collegiate Athletic Association director Walter Byers to serve the interests of journalists who cover college basketball. Scholarships The USBWA annually awa ...

first-team All-American **

Women's Basketball Coaches Association The Women's Basketball Coaches Association is an association of coaches of women's basketball teams at all levels. The organization was formed in 1981, with the goal of addressing the needs of women's basketball coaches. The mission of the WBCA ...

All-American **

SEC Player of the Year Southeastern Conference Player of the Year refers to the most outstanding player for the Southeastern Conference (SEC) in a given sport for a given season. For lists of individual sport SEC Players of the Year by year: *Southeastern Conference Bas ...

** First-team All-SEC ** SEC Defensive Player of the Year ** SEC All-Defensive Team * Destanni Henderson **

third-team All-American ** First-team All-SEC * Zia Cooke ** Second-team All-SEC * Dawn Staley **

Naismith College Coach of the Year Naismith College Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the Atlanta Tipoff Club to one men's and one women's NCAA Division I collegiate coach each season since 1987. The award was originally given to the two winning coaches of the NCAA Divis ...

WBCA National Coach of the Year Award The United States Marine Corps/WBCA National Coach of the Year is an award given by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association to best women's basketball Head Coaches in college and high schools since 1983. From 2014, the award is named "The Pat ...

USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year The United States Basketball Writers Association National Coach of the Year Award is an award given by the United States Basketball Writers Association to best women's college basketball coach since season 1989-90. Winners See also *United Sta ...

** SEC Coach of the Year

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2021-22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball seasons

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

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NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament Final Four seasons NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Tournament championship seasons