South Carolina W Basketball

South Carolina star Aliyah Boston leads the list of semifinalists for the Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year award. 

Presenting the 2022 Naismith Women's College Defensive Player of the year Semifinalists! 🗒️

Be on the lookout for our announcement of the winner on April 1st 🏆

For the full list of the candidates: https://t.co/luHsJnaTAn pic.twitter.com/KcvWaGJP2S

— Naismith Awards (@NaismithTrophy) February 28, 2022

Boston is the leading scorer for the No. 1 team in the country, with 16.8 points per game, but her defensive prowess has also been key for the Gamecocks. The forward is averaging 11.9 rebounds, 2.7 blocks and 1.1 steals per game as one of the top overall players in women's college basketball. 

She was also named on the midseason list for the Women's Player of the Year award alongside fellow top candidate Caitlin Clark of Iowa.

"She's a generational player," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Boston. "I don't think we talk enough about her in those terms."

There will still be plenty of competition for the Defensive Player of the Year award, with six different conferences represented among the 10 semifinalists.

Tennessee center Tamari Key ranks second in college basketball with an average of 3.7 blocks per game, using her 6'6" frame to dominate in the paint. Key reached double-digit blocks in three different games this season, including last week's loss to South Carolina. 

In November, Key had 10 points, 18 rebounds and 10 blocks in an overtime win over Texas.

Northwestern guard Veronica Burton leads the country with 4.1 steals per game and is closing in on 400 steals in her career (388 entering Monday). The senior has averages of 17.5 points, 6.5 assists and 5.2 rebounds this season as she almost single-handedly keeps the Wildcats' postseason hopes alive.

Sophomore Angel Reese is one of the youngest players on the list, but she is worthy of attention after leading Maryland in points, rebounds and blocks per game this year.

The winner of this award will be named on April 1.    

One of the most highly anticipated nonconference games of the women's college basketball season will not happen.

Mechelle Voepel of ESPN reported Thursday's game between No. 1 South Carolina and No. 9 UConn was canceled because the Gamecocks are looking to make up SEC games that were previously postponed because of COVID-19 concerns.

As a result, South Carolina will play Ole Miss on Thursday, and the Huskies will face DePaul in a Big East game on Wednesday.

"Dawn Staley reached out to me about postponing the series for this season," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. "It's a priority for South Carolina to make up SEC games, so this is the best decision for them right now. We know a lot of fans were excited for this game, but we look forward to continuing the series with South Carolina in future seasons."

Staley, who is South Carolina's head coach, echoed those sentiments:

I know our fans always enjoy the UConn game, and our team enjoys the rivalry. But I have always said that our conference season, and especially our goal of another SEC championship, is more central to our program.

As we approach the second half of league play next month, it has become more important to complete our SEC schedule to keep ourselves in the running for a conference title. This Thursday is one of the few dates Ole Miss has open, so, with my team's best interest at heart, I started the conversations that led us to this point.

Perhaps there would have been more urgency to play Thursday's game as scheduled if the two powerhouses didn't already play this season.

The Gamecocks defeated UConn by 16 points in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis in November. The two programs are also scheduled to face each other in each of the next two seasons.

While UConn is widely considered the gold standard of women's college basketball, this season has been something of a roller coaster.

Star player Paige Bueckers has not played since a Dec. 5 victory over Notre Dame with a knee injury, and the team is just 6-3 since with losses to Georgia Tech, Louisville and Oregon.

As for 17-1 South Carolina, its only loss came to Missouri by one point in overtime.

The Gamecocks are 5-1 in SEC play but are chasing 7-0 Tennessee. UConn is the only undefeated team in the Big East at 6-0 in conference play, but the upcoming game against DePaul will be key since the Blue Demons are 8-1.         

The South Carolina women's basketball team is no longer undefeated.

The Missouri Tigers defeated the Gamecocks 70-69 in overtime during Thursday's SEC showdown in front of more than 6,000 fans:

DOWN GOES NO. 1.

Unranked Missouri defeats No. 1 South Carolina 70-69 in OT in front of 6,139 fans at home.

◻️ Hayley Frank: 21 PTS
◻️ Lauren Hansen: 21 PTS
◻️ Ladazhia Williams: 12 PTS | 12 REB

📸 @MizzouWBB pic.twitter.com/ziddSqXdNr

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) December 31, 2021

Lauren Hansen's layup in the final seconds gave the Tigers the lead for good and propelled them to a 12-2 record on the campaign. South Carolina fell to 12-1 with its first loss of the season.

Alexa Philippou of the Hartford Courant noted it was Missouri's first win over a No. 1 team in program history.

It was all the more impressive because the victors were missing star player Aijha Blackwell and had just seven players available. Hansen (21 points and seven rebounds) and Hayley Frank (21 points) picked up the scoring slack for the short-handed squad.

LaDazhia Williams also notched a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds while helping counter South Carolina's strong frontcourt.

Aliyah Boston spearheaded the effort for the Gamecocks with her own double-double of 17 points and 12 boards.

South Carolina is still in position to compete for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA women's tournament despite the loss, while Missouri will remain a factor in the SEC if Thursday's conference opener was any indication.

Next up for the Gamecocks is a matchup with LSU on Jan. 6, while the Tigers will look to build on this signature win when they face Vanderbilt on Sunday.          

When Dawn Staley arrived to discuss defeating Stanford 65-61, her team's greatest comeback victory in program history, she sat down and put her gray Havanese dog Champ on the table right beside her. Staley and her team were at home, and Champ appearing beside her was par for the course.

A total of 13,079 people were reported in attendance at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina, for one of the most anticipated matchups of the 2021-22 season. It was also a rematch of the 2021 women's Final Four between Staley's Gamecocks and Tara VanDerveer's defending national champion Stanford Cardinal. VanDerveer's squad came out on top last April, defeating the Gamecocks 66-65 to move onto the national championship game.

When Staley was asked about the attendance number and how the crowd was able to help will her team back from an 18-point deficit, she replied: "Who accounted for the 3,000 people that snuck in? Because it looked like a little more than that."

She remarked that the showing Tuesday night was electric and remembered seeing a social media post before the game that said the matchup was going to be "an experience that you've never heard before in a gym."

"There was no lie told," Staley said in response to that fan's post.

That energy, obsessive fandom and loaded roster from top to bottom is what Staley has built in her 14 years as the head coach. And her team's come-from-behind victory against the defending champs was representative of the juggernaut she has built.

The Gamecocks have the potential to enter the postseason undefeated, and they just proved exactly why. Staley's team continues to show that it's elite and the favorite to win the national championship.

       

Staley's Major Adjustment on Defense

In the first half, Stanford's offense was in sync. The Cardinal scored 21 points in each quarter and shot over 47 percent in both quarters as well. Lexie Hull scored 14 points in the first out of her 17 total, and the Cardinal hit six of their seven threes.

Staley noted that in the first half the Cardinal caught the ball where they wanted and moved it around at will. Stanford's Princeton-style offense spread the floor, got everyone involved and was free-flowing. When there was an open lane, point forwards and wings Lexie and Lacie Hull and Haley Jones made the right reads.

Going into the third quarter, the Gamecocks needed to adjust and try to expose Stanford's main weakness: its lack of a traditional point guard. Their biggest adjustment in the third was denying any pass going into the high post. Once the Gamecocks were all on the same page in denying that initial entry pass to begin each of Stanford's offensive sets, South Carolina was able to string together multiple stops, turnovers and plays in transition in a row.

Point guard Destanni Henderson, playing in her first game since November after sitting out because of a left leg injury, led the Gamecocks' defensive intensity in the second half. She had seven steals in addition to her 17 points and a game-high seven assists. With 24 seconds left and Stanford down by one, Staley made sure that Henderson was on the Cardinal's main ball-handler in point-forward Jones.

"We certainly wanted Henny in the position of playing under [Jones], making her play a little bit faster and bother her a little bit," Staley said after the game. "And I thought we just, you know, we wanted that matchup. Everybody else could have matched up however they needed to match up, but for that one, Henny was the one that's gonna bring it home and make a play."

With five seconds left after Aliyah Boston's 1-of-2 trip at the line gave the Gamecocks a 63-60 lead, Staley's sharp anticipation stymied Stanford. After the timeout, she instructed Zia Cooke to foul Cameron Brink once she got the ball before she could set a screen for stretch post Ashten Prechtel to get off a three. The foul sent the sophomore to the line, where she only made one free throw before Francesca Belibi committed a lane violation.

Staley put on a coaches clinic throughout.

        

How South Carolina Landed Its Best Team Potentially Ever

VanDerveer noted in her postgame presser that she felt like her team could have done a better job on the offensive glass, as the Cardinal were outrebounded 18-11.

"You know, I thought our defense was pretty good," she said. "You know, we gave up some baskets that we shouldn't, but, you know, Boston's very tough in there. And we got hurt on the O-boards. We didn't do a good enough job on the O-boards. We need to be more aggressive."

Stanford actually outrebounded South Carolina 40-38, but it wasn't enough, and the best offensive rebounding team in the country stayed true to its identity. So how did the Gamecocks become so effective on the offensive glass? How is this what they are known for?

First and foremost, they are deep. In addition to superstar center Boston, South Carolina has 6'7" Kamilla Cardoso, 6'2" Victaria Saxton (who had 10 rebounds against the Cardinal) and larger guards in 6'4" Laeticia Amihere and 6'1" Brea Beal.

How does Staley work her magic? How does she get some of the most talented recruits to bet on her and South Carolina? Dating back to the days of WNBA superstar A'ja Wilson's time with the Gamecocks, Staley has had a way of connecting to potential recruits. She's able to form a maternal bond with them that goes beyond the court.

"I remember telling my parents, 'Coach Staley has gone through everything that I want to go through,'" Wilson told ESPN's Katie Barnes earlier this year.

Women's basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli provided some insight as to how Staley also captured the hearts of fans in the community. "I think Coach Staley is a brilliant teacher and a role model," she said, according to Cleopatra Shabazz of the Carolina News & Reporter. "Somebody you'd want your daughter to play for. Not just what you're going to learn on the court but the lessons she's going to teach you off the court."

Wilson, meanwhile, is far from the only former South Carolina player currently in the W or drafted, which includes Alaina Coates, Kaela Davis, Allisha Gray, Mikiah "Kiki" Herbert Harrigan and Tyasha Harris. That core group of players gave Staley a formula for success, which included a national championship in 2017 that Wilson and her peers brought to South Carolina.

Almost five years after the Gamecocks were the last team standing in early April, their new core, which includes Wilson's successor in Boston and a talented supporting cast of Cooke, Henderson and Amihere, appears ready to put Staley and the Gamecocks back underneath the confetti.

But a month before the season even began, South Carolina recognized who they had in Staley and the type of program she's created from the ground up. The board of trustees honored her with a new seven-year, $22.4 million contract, making her the highest-paid Black coach in women's basketball.

And Tuesday night, more history was sealed. The Gamecocks' comeback wouldn't have been possible without the support and guidance from their coach.

"It is pretty cool to be a part of that history," Saxton said after the game when asked about what this win means to the program. "I just feel like, you know, without the coach that we got, we wouldn't be able to go out there and handle business like we did."

South Carolina women's basketball head coach Dawn Staley told reporters on Friday that more Black women are getting head-coaching chances in the sport, though there is plenty of room for improvement in that regard. 

"There is an influx of Black women getting an opportunity," Staley said. "Black women are getting more chances to be the head honcho in their programs. I hope we continue to be successful."

"There should be a fair amount of Black women getting a chance because of who we serve," she added. "We serve a lot of players who are Black. I don't want people thinking I'm playing the race card. I've been in the game a long time. I've seen big jobs go to people that deserved an opportunity."

Last month, Staley signed a seven-year, $22.4 million contract extension with the school, making her the highest-paid Black head coach in women's college basketball and one of the highest-paid women's basketball coaches.

She has led South Carolina to a national title, three Final Four appearances and nine 25-win seasons, among her many accomplishments. The five-time WNBA All-Star was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player and also coaches the United States women's national team.

There are currently 12 Black women as Power Five head coaches in women's college basketball.

"I think more doors should be opening because we're freaking good," Buffalo's Felisha Legette-Jack said. "It's undeniable you have to interview us. When you interview us, you must select us. The answer is yes. We are more ready than most people."

Legette-Jack added that Staley has been an excellent advocate for Black women in coaching.

"I'm in awe of her. I'm a groupie. She's so great and gracious," she said. "You call her, and you think you're the most special person in the world. She does it with everybody."

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley continues to make history. 

The 51-year-old inked a seven-year, $22.4 million contract with the Gamecocks on Friday, making her the highest-paid Black coach in women's basketball, according to USA Today's Lindsay Schnell. 

"Credit where it's due," Staley said. "This university and this state have a rich history of racism, and I'm not going to disregard that. But this is one of the most progressive decisions they've ever made. They need to be recognized for being committed to leading the way in gender equity in America. This is an equitable statement and in the midst of all our inequities in our country, I hope it's a turning point."

Staley last got a raise and extension in 2017. Her new salary will be $1 million per year, with outside compensation beginning at $1.9 million in the first year and escalating by $100,000 every year after.

Since Staley became coach in 2008, the Gamecocks have made the NCAA tournament nine times, including three of the past six NCAA Final Fours. They won the NCAA championship in 2017.

Staley was named National Coach of the Year in 2020 after leading the Gamecocks to a No. 1 ranking before the postseason was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Staley also coached the United States' women's basketball team to a gold medal at this summer's Tokyo Olympics. She has been named USA Basketball National Coach of the Year twice and has helped the U.S. win 11 international gold medals.

Staley joins UConn's Geno Auriemma as the highest-paid coaches in women's basketball. Auriemma makes around $2.8 million per year. About 12 women's college basketball coaches make at least $1 million per year or more, including Arizona's Adia Barnes, LSU's Kim Mulkey and Oregon's Kelly Graves.