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South Carolina opens title defense as preseason No. 1 in women’s AP Poll
By Mark Kern
Published:
South Carolina won the national title last year over Iowa in 1 of the most memorable and highest rated seasons ever in women’s NCAA basketball history. Dawn Staley has built an absolute juggernaut during her time as the coach of the Gamecocks, and the team once again is looked at as a team that can win it all.
The first Women’s NCAA AP Top 25 Poll of the 2024-25 season came out on Tuesday, and it wasn’t a surprise to anybody that Staley and the Gamecocks were atop the poll.
Got that 🎯 so putting in the work!https://t.co/PBgs1plpNC pic.twitter.com/LTfRrMHzQb
— South Carolina Women's Basketball (@GamecockWBB) October 15, 2024
This is the 4th time in the last 5 seasons that the Gamecocks have started the season in the No. 1 spot. In 2021-22 and 2022-23, the Gamecocks went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the AP Poll.
South Carolina has been ranked No. 1 in the AP Poll 84 times during the Staley-era in Columbia, which is the 3rd-most for any program in all of women’s college basketball. The program has never been ranked No. 1 in the AP poll without Staley as the head coach.
The Gamecocks return a lot of talent from last year’s team, led by All-American Te-Hina Paopao, who led the nation in 3-point% last season. Raven Johnson is also back, and she was 2nd in the nation last year in assist-to-turnover ratio.
South Carolina unofficially starts the season tonight with a game against Memphis as part of the Inaugural Hoops for St. Jude Tip Off Classic at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
