Dawn Staley delivers speech after South Carolina wins third-straight regular-season title

On Thursday evening, South Carolina Women’s Basketball became the third SEC program to win three straight regular-season titles. After SEC commissioner Greg Sankey presented the team the award, head coach Dawn Staley delivered a rousing speech.

“I want to thank our fans for making it feel like a championship every single time that we come into this gym,” Staley said. “You created it, and we’re producing championships. Thank you so very much for all you do to help us bring home the hardware that you help us bring home.

“Congratulations to our team, who worked hard. And I’ve got to give it up to our coaching staff, who work tirelessly to ensure to ensure they’re not the ones who give up a defeat. We’re undefeated right now. So, everybody’s undefeated in scouting reports. That’s always a great thing.

“Then, to the leaders of our of our university, President Amiridis, to the leader of our athletics department, Coach Tanner, thank you for allowing us to do this. You said, ‘If you build it, they will come.’ Thank you for coming.”

South Carolina dominated Alabama 72-44 to secure the milestone. Staley has now led South Carolina to eight SEC regular season championships, seven SEC tournament championships, 10 Sweet Sixteens, five Final Fours and two NCAA championships.

South Carolina makes more history

Another SEC regular season title isn’t the only history Dawn Staley has made this season. After South Carolina defeated Georgia on Sunday, it became the first Southeastern Conference team to start 25-0 in back-to-back campaigns. On Thursday, the team also extended its regular-season win streak to a whopping 44 games.

The Gamecocks had to work for their historic win, trailing Georgia by seven points at halftime. South Carolina ultimately won the second half by a score of 42-21, including a 22-9 third quarter, to take it by 14.

All five starters for the Gamecocks scored nine or more points while three finished with a dozen or more. Kamilla Cardoso led that effort with an all-around outing as part of her double-double. The senior scored a team-high of 16 points and paired that with a career-high tying 16 rebounds. She also posted five assists, three blocks and a career-best of three steals.

During the past two years, the Gamecocks are 61-1 with their lone loss coming to Iowa by four points in the Final Four. Add in the year before that and South Carolina is now 96-3 over since the start of 2021-2022.