South Carolina's season might have ended early last year, but they are back in the Final Four hungry for redemption. They defeated the Oregon State Beavers, 70-58, on Sunday to keep their national championship hopes alive.
This year's undefeated South Carolina squad features an all-new starting five that has dominated just the same as Gamecocks teams before them.
Head coach Dawn Staley continues to lead the team. She has winning experience as a coach and as a player herself. She went to the Final Four three times when she played for Virginia and has three Olympic gold medals as a member of Team USA.
Staley brought her winning ways to South Carolina when she signed with the program in 2008 and has made them a consistent national championship contender.
The top-seeded Gamecocks play No. 3 North Carolina State on Friday at the Final Four in Cleveland for a chance to return to the national championship game.
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Here is South Carolina's Final Four history:
This is South Carolina's sixth trip to the Final Four, all under Dawn Staley's leadership.
They made their first appearance in program history in 2015 when they lost to Notre Dame by one point with a 66-65 score in the national semifinal. The Gamecocks made it to the Final Four in 2017 for their first title, beating Mississippi State, 67-55.
They returned to the Final Four in 2021 when they fell to Stanford in another close game, 66-65. That was the first of four straight national semifinal appearances. They also made it in 2022 − when they won their second championship by beating Connecticut, 64-49 − 2023, and this year, 2024.
South Carolina has won the national championship twice. The Gamecocks won their first title in 2017, beating the Mississippi State Bulldogs, 67-55. They then captured their second national championship in 2022 by topping the Connecticut Huskies, 64-49.
South Carolina has appeared in two national championship games: 2017 against Mississippi State and 2022 against Connecticut. They won both titles.
Top-seeded South Carolina won its first national championship in 2017, beating the No. 2 Mississippi State Bulldogs, 67-55, to sweep their SEC rival. A'ja Wilson had 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks in the game. It was her second of three consecutive years being named the SEC player of the year with 17.9 points, 7.8 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. The Gamecocks finished the 2017 season 33-4 behind Wilson and Alaina Coates adding 12.9 points and 10.7 boards per outing. A year later, Wilson was the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft and has since led the Las Vegas Aces to back-to-back titles.
South Carolina was a No. 1 seed again when they toppled the No. 2 Connecticut Huskies, 64-49, in 2022 for their second national championship with head coach Dawn Staley. This squad, which finished 35-2, had a completely different roster from the team that won the 2017 title. Destanni Henderson had 26 points and Aliyah Boston added 11 points and 16 rebounds in the final game. Boston averaged 16.8 points, 12.5 rebounds and 2.4 blocks that season and won the SEC player of the year and defensive player of the year. A year later, she was the No. 1 overall pick by the Indiana Fever in the WNBA draft.
If South Carolina and Connecticut each win their Final Four semifinal matchups, the national championship will be a rematch of the 2022 title game.