In five games against Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer, Dawn Staley had never won.
She had always come up short against the four-time national coach of the year — from the 1990 Stanford-Virginia Final Four to the Gamecocks' Sweet 16 loss in 2012.
But that changed in the Final Four Friday night, as the one-seeded Gamecocks topped the two-seeded Cardinal, sending Staley to the national championship for the first time in her 17-year coaching career.
"I think leading up to the game, you think about all the wonderful things that we've accomplished together," Staley said of VanDerveer. "She's been one of my biggest supporters since I've been in coaching. She's what's right for women's basketball. She wants younger coaches to have success in this league."
While VanDerveer admitted she and Staley are competitive with each other, she said she was proud to see her former pupil find success on the national stage.
"They worked really hard. They had a really aggressive second-half plan, came out and really did a much better job in the second half. I mean, Dawn and her staff have done a great job. They have a terrific team," VanDerveer said.
Sans leading rebounder Alaina Coates, USC fought its way to the national title game behind Staley's leadership. Following the win, Staley was seen courtside wiping tears from her eyes, soaking in the feeling of making history.
Her players shared the same feelings.
"It's awesome. She has a long, long list of accomplishments. For us to be able to be in this position to kind of add to that, it's everything to us and that just makes this moment, this day and this game that much more special," junior guard Kaela Davis said.
"I think she was shocked and amazed just like us. I mean, we just made history and she's never did it before and now we've got it," freshman guard Tyasha Harris added.
USC leading scorer and SEC Player of the Year A'ja Wilson played with Staley in the Gamecocks' last Final Four appearance in 2015, where the Gamecocks lost by one point to No. 2 Notre Dame.
While that experience ended in heartbreak, this one was much different.
"I can't even put into words the feeling that I have right now," Wilson said. "This is a very special team. I feel like we've earned this spot that we're in now. We know that we're not done. But just the feeling of just making history at your school is just something really special. Especially with the game of women's basketball, we're kind of putting South Carolina on the map right now. It's just a great feeling for us. I think we're blessed and we're really honored to be in this situation."