The Daily Gamecock

Top 5 moments of South Carolina's season up to this pont

In the midst of the NCAA tournament, the South Carolina women’s basketball team is hoping that the best memories of this season have yet to come. Nonetheless, the 2014-2015 season has already been a historic and memorable one for the Gamecock program. Here’s a look back at five of the top moments from this year up to this point for Dawn Staley’s South Carolina team. 

1. Winning the SEC tournament 

South Carolina had won the SEC’s regular-season championship two years in a row, but the Gamecocks had never won the conference tournament before this season. That changed when South Carolina won three games in three days in Little Rock, Arkansas, defeating Arkansas and LSU before besting Tennessee in the championship game.  

The win was South Carolina’s second against the Lady Vols in one season. It further validated the Gamecocks’ status as the SEC’s best, while also securing a one-seed in the NCAA tournament. 

The victory may have also assured South Carolina its placement in the Greensboro region, opposed to distant host sites such as Oklahoma City or Spokane. 

2. South Carolina defeats Tennessee at home 

Two weeks removed from a loss to Connecticut, South Carolina had a chance to redeem itself with a win against another top-tier opponent on national television. The Gamecocks did just that when defeating Tennessee 71-66. The victory was just South Carolina’s third all-time against Tennessee. Although Tennessee is the most successful program in the SEC’s history, the Gamecocks proved themselves as the conference’s top team this year with the win. 

Playing inside a crowded and noisy Colonial Life Arena in a big-game atmosphere, the game served as a message of sorts to other teams. It showed that South Carolina has the talent, the energy and the enthusiasm around its program needed to remain among college basketball’s best. 

3. A’ja Wilson’s put-back lifts Gamecocks over Duke 

Playing in one its most difficult non-conference games of the season on the road at Duke, South Carolina had one of its most memorable finishes of the year. Trailing the then-No. 9 ranked Blue Devils 50-49 in the final seconds on the road, freshman guard/forward A’ja Wilson rebounded junior shooting guard Tiffany Mitchell’s miss and put in the game-winning shot for South Carolina.

South Carolina played poorly for much of the afternoon but was able to hang close, giving itself a chance to overcome a four-point deficit with just 20 seconds remaining, which the Gamecocks did. 

The Gamecocks didn’t play their best basketball that Sunday in Durham, but the win highlighted some of the resolve and mental toughness Staley has commended her team on throughout the season. 

4. South Carolina hosts first two rounds of NCAA tournament

After years of traveling to places as far away as Seattle, Washington or Boulder, Colorado, for the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, South Carolina had the luxury of staying in town for the first two rounds of the tournament this year. 

"It was really refreshing to be able to sleep in our own beds and keep our same routine,” Staley said. “It’s extremely helpful." 

Playing against Savannah State and Syracuse at home last weekend, the only traveling the Gamecocks had to do was from the team hotel in Columbia to Colonial Life Arena, where South Carolina won both of its games handily.

Playing in front of crowds of 10,000-plus against Savannah State and Syracuse, South Carolina enjoyed the home court advantage, and Staley is hoping that Gamecock fans turn out in big numbers when South Carolina faces fourth-seeded North Carolina in Greensboro on Friday.

5. Welch, Ibiam, Gaines honored on senior night 

When Staley recruited senior forward Aleighsa Welch and senior center Elem Ibiam out of high school, she didn’t have much to show for what she was building at South Carolina. But both players took a risk and decided to come to a program on a rise.

Over the course of their collegiate careers, Welch and Ibiam have been apart of Staley’s first NCAA tournament team at South Carolina and the two Gamecock teams that have earned a one-seed in the NCAA tournament.

Olivia Gaines joined the South Carolina program in 2013 and has since carved out a role a defensive specialist. 

The trio played in their last regular-season game at Colonial Life against Mississippi State on February 26, with the Gamecocks winning 69-50. 


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