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UConn vs. South Carolina: A look back at the series between the two national women’s basketball heavyweights

lori riley, hartford courant
·4 min read

UConn, which will take on No. 1 South Carolina Sunday at noon at the XL Center, has played the Gamecocks 12 times dating back to the 2007-08 season.

On Dec. 17, 2007, the Huskies beat the Gamecocks in much the same way they beat a lot of opponents, 97-39.

It was an unremarkable game; there was no clue that things would be very different a decade or so down the road.

When coach Dawn Staley took over at South Carolina the following season, the Gamecocks faced UConn once again – and lost 77-48. But Staley, an Olympic gold medalist as a player and a coach and a Basketball Hall of Famer, would go on to change the culture of the program and slowly turned it into a national contender, one that used a 13-2 run to stun UConn in the first quarter of last year’s NCAA championship game en route to a 64-49 victory and the Gamecocks’ second national title.

When Staley became the coach, South Carolina averaged 2,000 fans per game and by 2015, the Gamecocks were the No. 1 draw in the country, averaging over 12,000.

UConn holds a 9-3 advantage in the series, but since 2020, South Carolina (22-0) has won three of the last four. The last time the Huskies beat South Carolina was on Feb. 28, 2021, 63-59 in overtime in Storrs behind 31 points from Paige Bueckers.

Here’s a quick look at some of the key games in the series:

Regular-season game, Gampel Pavilion, Feb. 9, 2015: South Carolina came into the game with a 22-0 record and was ranked No. 1. UConn was No. 2 so there was plenty of hype before the matchup. The day of the game there was a snowstorm but Gampel Pavilion was still packed and UConn won 87-62 behind 23 points from Kaleena Mosqueda-Lewis and 22 from Breanna Stewart. UConn coach Geno Auriemma said that day: “They are going to be playing deep into the NCAA Tournament. I told Dawn I hope we play them in Tampa. That would be pretty special.” South Carolina did make it to its first Final Four that year but lost to Notre Dame in a semifinal game.

Albany NCAA regional final, March 26, 2018: The two teams were facing each other for the first time with something big at stake: a trip to the Final Four. South Carolina was the defending national champion; UConn had won the title in 2016 and was 36-0. The Huskies, behind Crystal Dangerfield’s five first-half 3-pointers and 21 points, and 23 points from Gabby Williams, won easily 94-65. It was a bit of redemption for Dangerfield, who had shot 1-for-10 against the Gamecocks in the regular-season game in Columbia, when UConn won, 83-58.

Regular-season game, Columbia, S.C., Feb. 10, 2020: UConn shot 1-for-16 to open the game in front of 18,000 fans in Columbia and No. 1 South Carolina outscored the fifth-ranked Huskies 11-2 in the first quarter en route to its first win over UConn, 70-52. Staley had won a national championship with the Gamecocks but her team had gone 0-8 against the Huskies until that day.

Regular-season game, Gampel Pavilion, Feb. 8, 2021: Another 1 vs. 2 matchup: UConn was No. 2, South Carolina was No. 1. The game turned out to be a defensive battle. Bueckers, a freshman, scored the Huskies’ final 13 points, nine in overtime, including a 3-pointer with 10 seconds left that bounced up off the back of the rim and in and UConn won 63-59 in overtime. “She’s a player,” Staley said of Bueckers after the game. “She makes big shots when her number’s called, time and time again.”

NCAA championship game, Target Center, Minneapolis, April 4, 2022: UConn had struggled all season with injuries but in the postseason the injured players, including Bueckers, had returned and things were coming together. The Final Four was a homecoming for Bueckers and after the Huskies beat N.C. State in overtime in the regional final in Bridgeport and Stanford in the national semifinal, it seemed like anything was possible. But losing center Dorka Juhasz to a broken wrist in the N.C. State game proved to be a problem against South Carolina and national player of the year and Final Four MVP Aliyah Boston, who had 16 rebounds, 11 points and two blocks in South Carolina’s 64-49 win. UConn was outrebounded 49-24, and the Gamecocks had almost as many offensive rebounds (21) as UConn had total rebounds in the final, South Carolina’s second national title. It was the first time UConn had lost a championship game.

Lori Riley can be reached at lriley@courant.com.