Dawn Staley earns $75,000 bonus for clinching SEC regular season title

South Carolina secured a third straight regular-season conference title with a 48-point win over Kentucky on Sunday. That victory secured some extra cash for Dawn Staley as well due to a bonus in her contract in Columbia.

Staley, the head coach of the top-ranked, undefeated Gamecocks, earned an additional $75,000 today by clinching the conference crown per Steve Berkowitz at USA Today. That brings her total on bonuses from this season up to $90,000 after earning $15,000 with their 11th conference win a week and a half ago

South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley picks up $75,000 bonus as Gamecocks defeat Kentucky to claim outright SEC regular season title. Staley has $90,000 in bonuses so far, including $15,000 for team having at least 11 SEC wins (they are 14-0 in SEC so far).

— Steve Berkowitz (@ByBerkowitz) February 26, 2024

The 103-55 victory over the Wildcats in Lexington had it all. That’s even more impressive considering Kamilla Cardoso missed her second straight game. It was their fourth-highest scoring outing of the campaign with six players finishing in double-figures, including Bree Hall with a game-high of 18. Their explosion was efficient too as they shot 64.4% from the field, 66.7% from three, and 90.5% from the line.

South Carolina had already earned a share of the conference’s regular-season title with their 72-44 win over Alabama on Thursday last week. Now, with today’s win pushing them to 14-0 in the league with two games to go, they made enough of a gap from LSU, who’s now three games back, to take it all for themselves.

The Gamecocks have now won the Southeastern Conference’s regular season in each of the last three seasons and done so in eight of the past 11 years. That tracks considering Staley’s record in the league in the regular season is 197-55 after today. That includes a 159-15 mark over those last 11 seasons and 30-0 so far over the past two years.

Staley will certainly enjoy the extra money on her contract this season. However, with this achievement out of the way, the focus will now turn to winning an eighth SEC Tournament and a third national title under Staley as they go into the postseason.

More on Gamecocks clinching third straight regular-season title

Someone in the conference will put an end to South Carolina’s run of regular-season titles some day. It just won’t be this year.

The Gamecocks defeated Kentucky in a 103-55 blowout on Sunday to clinch their third straight regular season conference championship.

BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK 👑@GamecockWBB clinches the outright 2024 SEC regular season crown – earning their 8th title in the last 11 years!#SECWBB pic.twitter.com/hqEdYFzECV

— Southeastern Conference (@SEC) February 25, 2024

It’s been another dominant season for Dawn Staley and South Carolina. They’ve won all but three of their games by double digits. The Gamecocks are on their way to another undefeated regular season, currently sitting at 27-0 (14-0 SEC).

South Carolina has two more games remaining in the regular season before the SEC Tournament starts. The Gamecocks will next take on Arkansas at 9 p.m. ET on Saturday in Fayetteville. After that, they are set to close out the season at home against Tennessee on March 3.