COLUMBIA — Three national championship game appearances in the last four seasons and five straight Final Fours mean the bar is high for South Carolina women’s basketball in the 2025-26 season.
Coach Dawn Staley is beginning her 18th season with the Gamecocks, hunting for a fourth title and ninth 30-win season.
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They have one more exhibition game against North Carolina on Oct. 30 (6 p.m. ET) before officially opening the season on Nov. 3, with a home game against Grand Canyon (7 p.m. ET). It will mark the Gamecocks’ first real game since losing to UConn in the national championship last April.
Staley is without Chloe Kitts, a two-year starting forward who brings versatility on both ends of the floor. She tore her ACL this preseason.
South Carolina women’s basketball 2025-26 schedule, top games
When the series between No. 16 Southern Cal and No. 2 South Carolina was first announced, the hype centered on Juju Watkins vs Staley’s best guards. Watkins tore her ACL in March and won’t play on Nov. 15 when the Gamecocks are in Los Angeles but it’s still a early, difficult test for South Carolina.
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Other key non-conference games will happen in the Thanksgiving week series when South Carolina will play No. 6 Duke then either No. 3 Texas or No. 4 UCLA.
Looking ahead to SEC play, the toughest conference games are expected to be No. 3 Texas on Jan. 15, at No. 7 Oklahoma on Jan. 22, No. 9 Tennessee on Feb. 8 and at No. 5 LSU on Feb. 14.
South Carolina lost two games last February, so hosting a talented No. 14 Ole Miss team on Feb. 22 could sneak up on the Gamecocks too.
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Ta’Niya Latson led the nation in scoring in 2024-25 with 25. 2 points per game at Florida State but she’s with South Carolina now. Latson might not average 21 points or more this season as she did the last three but she’s expected to provide elite scoring for Staley in some capacity.
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In the exhibition against Anderson on Oct. 24, 6-6 center Madina Okot was a star, scoring 17 points and grabbing 15 rebounds. She transferred from Mississippi State and based on one game, will likely give South Carolina points and protect the rim with height that Staley didn’t have last season.
Both transfers will impact South Carolina’s offense but sophomore Joyce Edwards kicked off Year 2 in Staley’s system with 27 points in the exhibition game.
South Carolina women’s basketball prediction for 2025-26 season
At times South Carolina’s offense looked shaky last season but nevertheless, it was a win away from securing the national championship.
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Plugging in the height and dominance of Okot with Latson’s offensive prowess, it’s easy to assume this team goes just as far as last year’s.
That said, South Carolina has only 10 healthy players and a bench with five players who averaged a combined 4.4 minutes last year.
In 2024-25, South Carolina led the nation in bench scoring (40.3 pgg) but depth could be an issue this year. The non-starters looked good in the exhibition game but that’s far from the level of talent they’ll face in the NCAA Tournament.
This year, way more than last, postseason success rides on staying healthy and staying out of foul trouble. Staley has been to seven of the last 10 Final Fours, which is a bar that this team can reach but tournament time is like no other. One injury or one foul can be a major turning point no matter the talent level of a roster.
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Without knowing how Staley’s reserves play against high-level teams yet, South Carolina will lose in the Final Four and fall short of a third straight championship appearance.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at lkesin@gannett.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina women’s basketball predictions for 2025-26 season
