Dawn Staley, South Carolina Make History With First Round Win In NCAA Tournament
Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks got off to a historic start in the 2025 NCAA Tournament, showing everyone why they are a team to be feared in the competition.
South Carolina may not be the top overall seed in the competition—a development that didn’t sit well with Staley herself—but there’s a reason why they are the betting favorites to win the title again.
The Gamecocks certainly showed that, as they made history in their blowout of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles on Friday.
Freshman Joyce Edwards led the way for South Carolina with 22 points and five rebounds off the bench. All 12 Gamecocks also scored in the game, as they dominated from start to finish.
South Carolina led by 33 at halftime after limiting the Golden Eagles to just 27 points in the first two quarters. The Gamecocks went on to end the game with a 108-48 scoreline.
With that, the Gamecocks secured their highest-scoring game in the NCAA Tournament in program history. Their previous high was 100 points in their 2017 showdown with Quinnipiac.
Despite the win and their historic feat, though, Dawn Staley chose to focus on their next game against the Indiana Hoosiers.
While the Gamecocks had an incredible performance in the first round, Staley emphasized that they have plenty to fix.
“We’ve certainly got to… control the pace of the game,” Staley said about what her South Carolina team can improve.
“And then… their ability to penetrate… is paramount. So for us, we’ve got to disrupt… We certainly have to disrupt from a defensive standpoint. And then, we can’t have 16 turnovers… We can’t turn the ball over. And then our bench and our depth has to be in character with what they’ve done all season long.”
The Gamecocks return to action on Saturday, so it’s understandable why Staley doesn’t want to focus too much on the history they just made.
Sure enough, though, plenty of eyes will be on the reigning NCAA women’s champions as they look to continue their title defense.
