The 2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the

University of South Carolina The University of South Carolina (USC, SC, or Carolina) is a Public university, public research university in Columbia, South Carolina, United States. Founded in 1801 as South Carolina College, It is the flagship of the University of South Car ...

during the

2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season The 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season began in November 2020 and ended with the 2021 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship Game, championship game of the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament at the Alamo ...

. The Gamecocks, led by thirteenth-year head coach

Dawn Staley Dawn Michelle Staley (born May 4, 1970) is an American basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team. A point guard, she played college basketball for the Virginia Cavaliers an ...

, 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 Cente ...

and competed as members of the

Southeastern Conference The Southeastern Conference (SEC) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference whose member institutions are located primarily in the South Central United States, South Central and Southeastern United States. Its 16 members in ...

(SEC). They finished the season 26–5 (14–2 SEC), won the SEC tournament, and won a bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Final Four and lost to

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the season with a 32–1 overall record and a 16–0 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, however the tournament was not held due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, and were ''de facto'' named mythical national championship by finishing first in the major wire service polls, the AP Poll and

Coaches Poll In the United States, the Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has ...

. On December 31, 2020, during the Florida game, the program raised a banner to recognise the claim.

Offseason

Departures

2020 recruiting class

Preseason

SEC Media Poll

The SEC media poll was released on November 17, 2020 with the Gamecocks selected to finish in first place in the SEC.

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Gamecocks had two players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams. First team

Aliyah Boston Aliyah Boston (born December 11, 2001) is an American professional basketball Power forward (basketball), power forward and Center (basketball), center for the Indiana Fever of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She was named 20 ...

Second team Zia Cooke

Roster

Schedule

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

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2020-21 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball seasons

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

South Carolina Gamecocks w South Carolina Gamecocks w

NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament Final Four seasons