TAMPA, Fla. –– With four minutes left to play in Sunday’s national championship game between South Carolina and Connecticut, the Gamecocks, on defense, had just pushed the Huskies to the end of their possession’s shot clock, forcing UConn guard Azzi Fudd into a contested 3-pointer.
Fudd’s 3 bounced off the right side of the rim but over the outstretched arms of South Carolina forward Sania Feagin, falling into the hands of UConn guard Ashlynn Shade – and eliciting a resentful groan from the South Carolina bench.
As UConn swung the ball back to half court, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley looked up at the scoreboard and watched the clock tick down as her team, facing a 30-point deficit, neared defeat.
Behind her, a section of Gamecocks fans sat deflated as they wrestled with a feeling they had never had to confront in the years they had fervently cheered on their program: the pain of watching their team lose a national championship.
As Staley’s eyes fell back on her team, a smirk briefly came over her face – surely not an expression of happiness or contentment but perhaps the acceptance that today was not the day confetti would fall for her and her team like it had a year ago.
Sunday’s 82-59 loss to UConn was Staley’s first in her four appearances in the national championship game.
“Our kids gave it all they had. When you can understand why you lost and when you’ve been on the other side of that three times, you understand it. You can swallow it,” Staley said postgame. “We lost to a very, very good basketball team.”
Staley ended her answer in jest.
“They beat our ass, but they didn’t make us like it.”
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South Carolina’s loss in the national championship game marked a bitter end to what was otherwise another successful season under Staley, with the Gamecocks posting a record of 35-4 overall. The makeup of this year’s team differed from recent years when South Carolina’s identity centered on a dominant frontcourt force like Kamilla Cardoso a year ago or Aliyah Boston before her. That deficit was deepened by the midseason exit of forward Ashlyn Watkins, who tore her ACL against Mississippi State on Jan. 5.
The result was a South Carolina team that produced a sort of popcorn offense where no one player dominated the scoring column and a handful of players were capable of leading the team. The balance largely functioned as a strength of the Gamecocks. On any given night, it could be someone different who led South Carolina to victory. In each of the Gamecocks’ first five NCAA tournament games, each of South Carolina’s wins came with a different leading scorer at the top of the stat sheet.
But when South Carolina, as a collective, struggled to manufacture offense, there wasn’t always a definitive player the Gamecocks could turn to, to pull them out of that slump.
ESPN’s Holly Rowe interviewed Staley before the start of the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game, asking Staley –– in the absence of finding an answer to UConn opening up a 20-point lead –– where she could find the points for her club.
“I don’t know,” Staley responded. “Tough battle for us today, but we’re going to continue to battle.”
For UConn those definitive players were guard Paige Bueckers, Fudd and forward Sarah Strong, the program’s face, heir apparent and successor, respectively. The trio steadily dissected the Gamecocks over the course of the contest and were the answer whenever the Huskies needed one. Since the start of the tournament, the precision of UConn’s on-court execution was near-perfect. That was no different in the national championship game.
UConn outscored its opponents by 197 points in the NCAA tournament and tied for the fourth-largest point differential ever in a single NCAA tournament, according to ESPN Stats and Information.
“I think they had the better team this year,” Staley said. “You don’t always win when you have the better team, but they had the better team this year and they won, and that’s what you’re supposed to do.”
AP Photo/Chris O’Meara
Sitting next to Staley following the loss was guard Bree Hall. A part of South Carolina’s senior class, a surprisingly composed Hall sat on the dais during the postgame press conference.
Though upset that she couldn’t end her career on a championship high, Hall was overcome with gratitude for the four years she had just capped off in Columbia, South Carolina. That included four trips to the Final Four, three appearances in the national championship game and two national championships – won in 2022 and 2024.
“Of course it hurts, of course I’m competitive, of course I want to win, but I can’t express how appreciative I am of this program,” Hall said. “A lot of people dream of being in a position like this.”
For the Gamecocks players who are slated to return next season, Staley hoped the disappointment of Sunday’s loss hit them a bit more poignantly than it did Hall.
“I hope they’re boo-hooing,” Staley said. “From crying and having emotion about losing, it makes you work harder in the offseason. It makes you look at it and analyze what the separation is from their program and our program and how we close the gap with that.”
Staley admitted the loss of her senior class –– which includes Hall, Feagin and point guard Te-Hina Paopao –– will be a blow to the roster as the Gamecocks will lose a weight of experience and production. Redshirt junior Raven Johnson, a part of the same recruiting class as Hall and Feagin, has yet to announce if she’ll return next season.
However, Staley said the players coming back next year should have every expectation of returning to the national championship game.
“They’re very talented and I think they got a great experience of playing at this level,” Staley said. “I hope they have a desire to get back here and do all the things that it takes to play in a national championship game.
“Then deliver the blows that’s needed to win.”