South Carolina leads the way as women’s college basketball looks to build on last year’s success

Dawn Staley and South Carolina went undefeated last season en route to the school’s third national championship. With most of that roster back, there’s good reason to believe the Gamecocks can repeat the success.

Standing in their way could be a healthy UConn led by Paige Bueckers or JuJu Watkins and USC, which has added several star transfers to help the sensational sophomore. These two preseason All-Americans look to build on last season’s momentum, which was spearheaded by Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese and led to record ratings and attendance for the NCAA Tournament.

“I know we lost some great people in Angel and Kaitlyn, but we gained so much more,” Staley said. “We have gained a lot more talent, skills and competitiveness. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m glad it came at a time where I can witness it and can share it with other people who are just now tuning in.”

There are plenty of other teams, including Texas, UCLA and Notre Dame, that could also compete for the title. YUKON was the last team to win back-to-back championships, winning four straight titles from 2013–16. South Carolina hopes to change that trend and make it to Tampa for the Final Four in April.

Staley’s team, ranked No. 1 in the preseason AP poll, is looking to win its third national title in four years. The Gamecocks finished their first undefeated season in the sport at 38-0 since YUKON completed a perfect run to the championship in 2016. South Carolina’s biggest loss last season was 6-foot-7 center Camille Cardoso, the team’s leading scorer and rebounder.

The Gamecocks are also missing junior Ashlyn Watkins, a 6-3 guard who led the SEC with 91 blocked shots. She was suspended from the program after her arrest on Aug. 31 for assault and kidnapping.

The season begins on November 4 with a pair of games in Paris. Last season, the Gamecocks routed Notre Dame in the French capital. This year’s doubleheader will feature No. 3 USC playing No. 20 Ole Miss and No. 17 Louisville facing No. 5 UCLA.

There have been major changes in conference membership, with Texas and Oklahoma now in the SEC and USC and UCLA in the Big Ten. Besides South Carolina, LSU and now Texas and Oklahoma, the SEC has four of the top 10 teams in the preseason poll.

UConn, Texas and Notre Dame all have key players who missed at least part of last season recovering from ACL injuries. The Huskies’ Azzie Fudd, the Longhorns’ Rory Harmon and the Irish’s Olivia Miles have been cleared to return. When healthy, they are among the top three players in the country and provide leadership to their team on defense.

Fadd still has some way to go before she’s back to full strength, telling the media at Big East Media Day that she does see light at the end of the tunnel for her recovery.

Longtime assistants Kate Pay at Stanford and Jan Jensen at Iowa took over their programs after head coaches Tara VanDerveer and Lisa Bluder, respectively, resigned at the end of last season. Neither expects major changes in how the teams will play, and while both teams are close to the top 25, their early rankings wouldn’t be a shock.

The transfer portal in women’s basketball has become extremely active again, with hundreds of players changing teams. No school was hit harder than Oregon State, which made it to the Elite Eight last season before losing to South Carolina. With the Pac-12 down to two schools, the Beavers lost three of their starting five: Raegan Beers to Oklahoma, Talia von Ohlhoffen to USC and Donovin Hunter to TCU.

Other notable transfers include Kiki Iriafen (Stanford to USC); Georgia Amour traveled with her coach Kenny Brooks from Virginia Tech to Kentucky; and Haley Van Lith changed schools for the second time since attending Louisville, leaving LSU for TCU.

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AP women’s college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-womens-college-basketball-poll