South Carolina women's basketball finishes 2nd in final AP poll, fourth top-2 finish in a row
South Carolina women’s basketball fell just short of its ultimate goal on Sunday, losing the national title game to the UConn Huskies following a fifth consecutive trip to the Final Four. Still, the Gamecocks had a tremendous season and (rightfully) finished No. 2 in the final Associated Press top-25 rankings of the season. As expected, the national runners-up only trailed the champs in the final poll.
With the high finish, Dawn Staley’s team finished top-2 overall in the final AP poll for the fourth year in a row. For context, this is the second year that the AP has released a final poll following the conclusion of the NCAA Tournament; before the 2023-2024 season, the outlet’s final poll came after conference tournaments but before the big tournament began.
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The final AP poll of the season can be seen below (first-place votes also in parentheses):
- UConn Huskies (31)
- South Carolina Gamecocks
- UCLA Bruins
- Texas Longhorns
- Southern Cal Trojans
- TCU Horned Frogs
- Duke Blue Devils
- LSU Tigers
- NC State Wolfpack
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish
- Oklahoma Sooners
- Maryland Terrapins
- Kansas State Wildcats
- North Carolina Tar Heels
- Tennessee Lady Volunteers
- Kentucky Wildcats
- Ole Miss Rebels
- Baylor Bears
- Ohio State Buckeyes
- Alabama Crimson Tide
- West Virginia Mountaineers
- Florida State Seminoles
- South Dakota State Jackrabbits
- Oklahoma State Cowboys
- Michigan Wolverines
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Now, South Carolina will head into the offseason with a relatively new look ahead of the 2025-2026 season.
The Gamecocks are losing at least three players as Te-Hina Paopao, Bree Hall, and Sania Feagin graduate. Redshirt junior Raven Johnson and veteran post player Sakima Walker also have decisions to make regarding their futures as they each have one more potential year of eligibility available. Assistant coach Winston Gandy will be moving on to become the head coach at Grand Canyon as soon as the team returns home, too.
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- 2New
Predicting Final AP Poll
Projected Top 25 after Florida crowned
- 3Hot
Way-Too-Early Top 25
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And then there’s the transfer portal. USC doesn’t suffer much portal attrition in most years, but Coach Staley has indicated they will look to add players this offseason. Pending the Johnson and Walker decisions, Carolina could bring in several portal talents to go along with their two-player class of 2025 high school class of Ayla McDowell and Agot Makeer.
This offseason surely will be one worth monitoring for the Gamecocks. However, fans will have to wait about seven months before South Carolina hits the floor again.
Next week, though, the 2025 WNBA Draft will take place in New York City. Several Gamecocks should hear their names called, and guard Te-Hina Paopao could push her way as high as the first round. On Monday, April 14th, ESPN will broadcast the draft at 7:30 p.m., while the ESPN app makes it available for streaming.
