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When South Carolina and UConn resume their series on Sunday there will be more than just pride on the line.

This is the most important game in the series since the teams met in the national championship in 2022 (ironically, this year’s game is a makeup for the postponed game that same season).

The game obviously doesn’t matter for conference standings, and in the last two seasons, South Carolina had safely locked up the top overall seed in the NCAA tournament by this point in the season. 

This season is different. Both teams have national championship aspirations but flawed resumes. 

South Carolina has a pair of losses, including its first SEC regular season loss in over three years. UConn has already lost three games and has a middling 3-3 record in Quad 1 games.

“UConn is a big game and we’re gonna prepare,” Joyce Edwards said. “We’re gonna be a little more serious because we know it’s a big matchup. We’re going to go out there and execute.”

Both teams could really use another top-ten win. It would probably sew up a one seed for South Carolina. Because of the weak Big East, this is UConn’s last chance for a marquee win.

But we’re just getting started on storylines. After the loss at UCLA and especially after the loss to Texas, it seems like a lot of people are writing South Carolina off. That’s even though South Carolina routed Texas in their other meeting. 

South Carolina gets to change that perception on Sunday. GameDay is broadcasting from Colonial Life Arena before the game. ESPN has been running promos all week. It’s a chance to put South Carolina back on top of the mountain.

“I think it’s great for our game,” Dawn Staley said. “I think it speaks to where we are in our game. It seems like if you’re watching a game, every other commercial is us and UConn.”

It is the current gold standard in women’s basketball against the program it supplanted. South Carolina is the only team to beat Geno Auriemma in a national championship game and has won five of six games against UConn.

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With Auriemma, the winningest coach in women’s and men’s basketball, widely believed to be nearing retirement, possibly even as soon as this offseason, we may not get many more of these games. And you know it would irk him to take those trends into retirement.

“Is it a little bit extra special because it is UConn? Maybe, but it is very similar to our preparation for all of our big games,” Dawn Staley said.

It’s also a national showcase for two of the frontrunners for National Freshman of the Year, potentially the future faces of the sport. UConn’s Sarah Strong quickly established herself as the favorite early in the season, but Edwards has closed the gap in recent weeks.

Staley campaigned for Edwards a few weeks ago, and she is a big fan of Strong as well.

“They’re two incredibly talented individuals,” Staley said on Friday. “What we ask Joyce to do, her responsibilities, is a lot different than Sarah. They’re both equally as effective in what their responsibilities are for their respective teams.”

Edwards appreciates the confidence, but she has said that winning freshman of the year is not one of her goals.

“I don’t necessarily look at that at all,” she said. “I take it game-by-game. I really focus on what’s right in front of me and where my feet is. I don’t look too much at the bigger picture because you can get lost a little bit. I just go out there and play my game every day.”

There is plenty to the burgeoning Edwards-Strong rivalry. They have competed against each other since middle school. Both rejected traditional prep powerhouses to stay at their local high schools. Strong’s parents are from Chester, SC, and she considers Raleigh, NC her hometown.

“Me and Sarah go way back, since middle school,” Edwards said. “Hopefully, it’s not going to be any different. Just go out there and we compete and then off the court we’ll be friends and we’ll hug.”

South Carolina made a strong, no pun intended, recruiting push for Strong. Her mother is Allison Feaster, who was Staley’s teammate in the WNBA, and there was a solid relationship.

“As far as Allison – I don’t know how we don’t get Sarah Strong. Right? I don’t,” Staley said. “But (UConn) did a great job recruiting her. I think she felt comfortable there. It seems like a really good fit for her and being able to utilize all of her skill set.” 

Ultimately, Strong agreed and committed to the Huskies.

“I haven’t talked to Allison since,” Staley joked.

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