We are a quarter of the way through the 21st century. I’ll give you a moment to come to grips with that disturbing fact.
Now that you have hopefully reconciled with the passage of time, let’s get to the point.
It’s 2025, so let’s look back on the 25 best moments for South Carolina women’s basketball this century. We’ll count down to 11 today, and then cover the top ten later this week.
Honorable Mention:
Rutgers (Exh.) (2023)
The 2022-23 Gamecocks were supposed to go undefeated and cement the Gamecocks as all-time greats. Instead, they suffered a devastating loss in the Final Four, and South Carolina had to replace almost everyone. The critics were circling like vultures. But I quietly told people I had a feeling that the “team after” could be just as good. Then South Carolina played Rutgers in an exhibition and looked incredible. I typed “they look better” in my game notes, but then moved it far, far away from the published story. By the second game of the season, I moved it back.
Big Shot Breezy sinks LSU (2024)
During the 2025 NCAA tournament, I asked senior Bree Hall what her favorite moment was. She hesitated for a moment and then confidently declared, “The shot against LSU.” I can’t argue. Behind one of the biggest home crowds in program history, LSU led by 11 in the first half. But South Carolina chipped away, and Big Shot Breezy hit back-to-back threes to break a 67-67 tie and keep the Gamecocks undefeated.
Triple-Doubles
In Gamecock history, triple-doubles are rare enough that it feels like they should be included, but common enough that I could only include one. Shoutout to Chloe Kitts (16/13/10), Aliyah Boston (16/11/10), Alaina Coates (29/16/10), Iva Siskovic (18/15/10), and Cristina Ciocan (22/10/13).
25. Clemson (2014)
This is one of those games where the numbers (a 99-41 win) don’t do justice to the feel of the game. South Carolina had won 68-43 the year before, but the gap between the programs didn’t feel huge. Until this game. South Carolina dominated from the opening tip, and late in the game, Dawn Staley emptied the bench. That meant playing four McDonald’s All-Americans. It was stunning to see that kind of talent, depth, and domination. South Carolina hadn’t had four McDonald’s All-Americans in program history, and now they were filling out the bench.
24. The 2015 SEC Tournament
South Carolina won its first SEC regular-season title in 2014, but lost to rival Kentucky in the semifinals of the SEC Tournament. In retrospect, it was clearly a moment for growth. The team peaked when it clinched the title and faded afterwards. That’s why it meant so much to beat Tennessee (they shared the regular season title) in the title game in 2015. In 2023, South Carolina beat Tennessee (making its first championship game since 2015) again. An ignorant Tennessee reporter asked Dawn Staley if it meant more because they beat Tennessee. “No,” she said, “We already beat them.”
23. JP scores 51 (2002)
Jocelyn Penn set the Gamecock single-game scoring record with 51 points against Stetson, single-handedly outscoring the Hatters in a 101-39 win. I had trouble figuring out where to rank this game, but I was there, and the blatant second-half stat padding against an overmatched opponent keeps it from being higher.
22. A’ja’s Statue (2021)
On a frigid, pandemic-isolated Martin Luther King Day in 2021, the statue of A’ja Wilson in front of Colonial Life Arena was officially unveiled prior to South Carolina’s game against Arkansas. She was one of, if not the, first women’s basketball players with a statue. In the four years since Wilson’s statue was unveiled, other programs have raced to (often belatedly) recognize their greats. Wilson’s statue has become a gathering area not just for FAMs, but for everyone in the women’s basketball community. It’s the first stop for recruits (not just WBB), and it’s a tradition for NCAA tournament teams sent to Columbia to take a picture there. Wilson’s speech that day is iconic.
“When (my grandmother) was a child, she couldn’t even walk on the grounds of the University of South Carolina,” Wilson said. “If only she was here today to see that the same grounds she had to walk around now is the same grounds that houses a statue of her granddaughter.” Later that night, Arkansas coach Mike Neighbors said, “I read every Martin Luther King quote that came out today, and I’m not sure A’ja didn’t have the best one.”
21. Aliyah Boston’s debut (2019)
Only one player, male or female, in NCAA history has recorded a triple-double in their collegiate debut. That’s Aliyah Boston, who had 12 points, 12 rebounds, and 10 blocks against Alabama State.
20. Holding Texas scoreless in the Elite Eight (2021)
Beating Vic Schaefer never gets old, and embarrassing him is even better. For as long as the game is played, this record will never be broken: South Carolina held Texas scoreless in the fourth quarter of their Elite Eight game in 2021.
19. Kentucky beat-down (2020)
In January 2020, the national media had yet to figure out that South Carolina was the best team in the country. The Gamecocks hosted Kentucky on January 2 to start the SEC season, and the national consensus was that South Carolina had no answer for no. 13 Kentucky and Rhyne Howard. The Gamecocks, as the saying goes, took that personally. South Carolina’s first three possessions went to Brea Beal, putting Howard in a blender. By halftime, South Carolina led 49-28, and Howard had more turnovers than baskets. South Carolina coasted in the second half, resting its starters, for a 99-72 win that wasn’t remotely that close. There are wins and there are statements, but when the opposing coach resorts to crawling around on the court, which Matthew Mitchell did late in the game, it’s humiliation.
18. Rocky toppled (2012)
Juco transfer Markeshia Grant scored a career-high 27 points to lead a similarly ragtag group of unranked Gamecocks to a 64-60 win over no. 8 Tennessee. It was South Carolina’s first-ever win in Knoxville, and its first win over the Lady Vols since 1980. The SEC power structure didn’t change that day, but the change was underway.
17. The timeout against Mississippi State (2020)
South Carolina trailed Mississippi State by as much as nine in the fourth quarter. Dawn Staley called a timeout, but didn’t say a word. Ty Harris and the players took over the huddle, and they quickly erased the deficit. Harris had a steal and layup to pull within one, and then hit the go-ahead basket. She added a free throw, and then, with six seconds left, the former football player Zia Cooke intercepted the Bulldogs’ inbounds pass to clinch the win. After the game, I booked my hotel for the Final Four in New Orleans because this team was unbeatable. Fate had other ideas.
16. Henny channels Willis Reed against Stanford (2021)
Full disclosure – I caught COVID covering South Carolina’s game at Duke and had to watch this game from home between bouts of death. No. 1 South Carolina fell behind defending national champion no. 2 Stanford by 18, setting the stage for the biggest comeback in program history. In the second half, Destanni Henderson, who had missed the previous three games with an injury, took over. She grabbed a career-high seven steals to go with 17 points and seven assists and single-handedly applied a full-court press. “If (Henderson) could have waited one game, I would have been happy,” Tara VanDerveer quipped.
15. The 2012 Tournament run (2012)
It seems quaint now, but the 2012 Sweet 16 run was an enormous statement at the time. South Carolina earned its first NCAA tournament bid under Dawn Staley, but despite being a four seed, had to play on the road at Purdue. No matter. The gritty, unheralded Gamecocks beat Eastern Michigan and Purdue, on Purdue’s home court, to advance to the Sweet 16. They got blown out by Stanford, but Staley told the team, “We got out-talented, not out-played.” Soon, Staley added the talent.
14. Aliyah’s “big” game against UConn (2021)
No. 1 South Carolina and no. 2 UConn met in the Bahamas on a Monday in November. The powers that be at the AP were so sure that UConn would win, they delayed the AP poll until Tuesday for just the second time in history. Instead, Aliyah Boston and South Carolina dominated for a 73-57 win. After the game, someone asked Dawn Staley about Boston. “She had 22 points and 15 rebounds in a big-ass game,” Staley said, and then stood up and walked out. She might as well have dropped the mic, too. Boston went on to become the national player of the year, and South Carolina beat UConn again for the national championship.
13. Elite (2002)
Between the 1980 AIAW Final Four and the 2015 NCAA Final Four, South Carolina spent some 35 years in the basketball wilderness. The exception was 2002, when the Gamecocks finished second in the SEC and made a surprise run to the Elite Eight. Jocelyn Penn and Shaunzinski Gortman each scored 19 points to lead South Carolina to a 79-65 win over Drake in the Sweet 16. They fell to Duke in the Elite Eight, but this was the program’s high point for another decade.
12. February 23, 2017
If you wanted to put this at number one, I wouldn’t complain. That was, I have often said, the night that changed everything. The Gamecocks were a game down in the SEC standings, and all Mississippi State had to do was beat struggling Kentucky to break South Carolina’s reign over the SEC. Meanwhile, South Carolina found out it had lost center Alaina Coates to injury, making an already dire situation worse. But Kentucky upset Mississippi State, and then, in a desperate move/stroke of genius, Dawn Staley put guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore into the starting lineup. Replacing Coates with Cuevas-Moore made South Carolina small but quick, able to pressure opponents and surround A’ja Wilson with four shooters. Against all expectations, it sparked South Carolina to a win over the Aggies. And then to a regular-season championship. And then an SEC tournament championship. And then a national championship.
11. Brea Beal stuffs Haily Van Lith (2022)
The naysayers complained that South Carolina had one of the lowest offensive outputs of any national champion. The big picture folks knew that South Carolina had one of the best defenses in history. Aliyah Boston was the anchor, but nothing summed up the Gamecocks like the beginning of the national semifinal. Brea Beal, the Gamecocks’ overlooked defensive ace, forced Hailey Van Lith, Louisville’s star guard, into a travel and two blocked shots to start the game. Game over. Period. Bea defended the other team’s top scorer all tournament and gave up a total of 29 points. Defense wins championships.
