South Carolina women’s basketball suffered a disappointing 87-58 blowout loss to UConn at Colonial Life Arena in Greenville, S.C., on Sunday. An Instagram post showed a video of Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley’s reaction to the game.
Dawn Staley’s Honest Reaction to South Carolina Loss
“We gotta play better, we gotta perform better,” Staley said. “I feel really bad for our fans. They packed the house. They did their part.”
“We just, we really had an embarrassing performance and we need to get things back on track. Probably all of our streaks have been broken this year. But it was a hell of a ride. We had 71 straight wins. We got a chance to start a new streak on Thursday and we got to get back at it.”
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South Carolina, the defending champion, started this season on a stellar note. The Gamecocks are now 23-3 and currently rank No. 4 in women’s basketball. In addition, the loss snapped UConn’s four-game losing streak against South Carolina, marking the Huskies’ second win in the last seven matchups against the Gamecocks.
No. 4 UConn now has a 10-5 lead in the all-time series.
Dawn Staley Shares Message to South Carolina Team
South Carolina women’s basketball suffered a shocking second defeat in February after an 87-58 blowout loss to UConn following a winning streak of 71 consecutive home games. Gamecocks coach Staley was interviewed by ESPN’s Holly Rowe after the third quarter and didn’t mince words about her team’s performance and what they must do heading into the fourth quarter.
“We just have to get tougher,” Staley said in a video posted on X (formerly Twitter). “I think all of our habits are showing up at the wrong time, and you can’t do that against a team like UConn. They got it going on. They’re shooting the ball extremely well, they’re defending us, we’re taking bad shots and they’re making us pay for it. All the above doesn’t equal a win.”
Asked what her message to her team would be before the fourth quarter, Staley said, “Just toughness. We’ve got to get back to playing good basketball, try to create some good habits and take it back into the SEC and see if we can finish strong.”
Dawn Staley on ESPN after the third quarter of South Carolina’s blowout loss to UConn
“All of our habits are showing up at the wrong time” pic.twitter.com/BDeqXr9ZI2
— Grant Young (@GrvntYoung) February 16, 2025
Sunday’s game marked UConn’s 16th 20-point victory over a top-5 opponent in the past 25 seasons, further cementing Geno Auriemma’s team as one of the most dominant in women’s basketball.
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The loss also dropped South Carolina to 23-3 overall and 12-1 at home this season.
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