What a win over Texas would mean for South Carolina women's basketball
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley and Texas Longhorns coach Vic Schaefer go way back. Now two of the four highest-paid coaches in the sport, the duo faced off 15 times before Schaefer ever arrived in Austin. Back then, he was the headman at Mississippi State. Carolina went 12-3 in those matchups against State.
Staley bested Schaefer in the 2016-2017 NCAA Tournament National Championship Game, and the Gamecocks had to get past the Bulldogs several times in the SEC Tournament over the years. Those games obviously held a lot of importance for South Carolina.
However, of all the regular season meetings between Staley and Schaefer, one can make an argument that Sunday’s game against Texas might be the most impactful of their non-postseason affairs.
The No. 2 Gamecocks and No. 4 Longhorns will do battle in Austin this weekend, and the stakes are high.
Win tickets to the South Carolina-Florida women’s basketball game
South Carolina is 22-1 and 10-0 in SEC play. Texas is 23-2 but 9-1 in conference matchups; their only SEC loss came in January in Columbia. Whichever team wins on Sunday will control their own SEC destiny.
Past the meeting with the Longhorns on their court, the Gamecocks have five conference games waiting. Two of those (@ Vanderbilt and Kentucky) are against ranked foes and another (@ Ole Miss) is against a team that has spent most of the season ranked. Coach Staley’s bunch also will play the annual rivalry game against UConn. That game, though, will have no bearing on the SEC standings.
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For Texas, the five remaining contests start off extremely difficult (@ Kentucky and LSU). The Longhorns’ final three games in league play, though, are against teams with losing conference records. Texas will have a bye during that stretch, as well, perhaps making the path a bit more manageable.
If South Carolina knocks off Texas, the Gamecocks would have to stumble twice to have a chance at losing the SEC regular season championship. Conversely, if USC loses, Texas wins at least a share of the conference title by going undefeated the rest of the way.
Win tickets to Senior Day, South Carolina-Kentucky women’s basketball game
Sunday will mark just the second trip to Austin of the Dawn Staley era. En route to a national title (the same 2016-2017 season that culminated with Staley’s Gamecocks defeating Schaefer’s Bulldogs in the championship game), South Carolina beat Texas on the road during the regular season.
FAMs can tune in to watch the Gamecocks and Longhorns at 2:00 p.m. on Sunday. The Moody Center-hosted showdown will be broadcast on ESPN, and the ESPN app will make the contest available via streaming. Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, and Holly Rowe will be on the call in Austin.
