2019–20 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2019–20 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by twelfth-year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at the Colonial Life Arena and competed as members of the Southeastern Conference.

2019–20 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
Paradise Jam Champions SEC tournament champions SEC regular season champions
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 1
AP	No. 1
Record	32–1 (16–0 SEC)
Head coach	Dawn Staley (12th season)
Assistant coaches	Lisa Boyer Fred Chmiel Jolette Law
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena
Seasons ← 2018–19 2020–21 →

2019–20 SEC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 1 South Carolina †	16	–	0		1.000			32	–	1		.970
No. 9 Mississippi State	13	–	3		.813			27	–	6		.818
No. 24 Arkansas	10	–	6		.625			24	–	8		.750
No. 16 Kentucky	10	–	6		.625			22	–	8		.733
No. 19 Texas A&M	10	–	6		.625			22	–	8		.733
Tennessee	10	–	6		.625			21	–	10		.677
LSU	9	–	7		.563			20	–	10		.667
Alabama	8	–	8		.500			18	–	12		.600
Georgia	7	–	9		.438			17	–	14		.548
Florida	6	–	10		.375			15	–	15		.500
Missouri	5	–	11		.313			9	–	22		.290
Vanderbilt	4	–	12		.250			14	–	16		.467
Auburn	4	–	12		.250			11	–	18		.379
Ole Miss	0	–	16		.000			7	–	23		.233
† 2020 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2018–19 season 23–10, 13–3 in SEC play to finish in second place. They lost in the quarterfinals of the SEC women's tournament to Arkansas.^[1] They received an at-large bid to the NCAA women's tournament where they defeated Belmont and Florida State in the first and second rounds before losing to Baylor in the Sweet Sixteen.^[2]

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Nelly Perry	0	G	5'10"	RS Senior	Camden, NJ	Graduated
Bianca Cuevas-Moore	1	G	5'6"	RS Senior	Bronx, NY	Graduated
Te'a Cooper	2	G	5'8"	RS Junior	Powder Springs, GA	Transferred to Baylor
Doniyah Cliney	4	G	6'0"	Senior	Newark, NJ	Graduated
Bianca Jackson	10	G	5'10"	Sophomore	Montgomery, AL	Transferred to Florida State
LaDazhia Williams	23	C	6'2"	Sophomore	Bradenton, FL	Transferred to Missouri
Alexis Jennings	35	F	6'2"	RS Senior	Laurel, MD	Graduated

Incoming transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous School
Destiny Littleton	11	G	5'9"	RS Sophomore	San Diego, CA	Transferred from Texas. Will sit out a year due to NCAA rules.

Recruits

The Gamecocks signed the #1 class in the nation for 2019 according to ESPN^[3] and Prospects nation.^[4]

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Aliyah Boston #1 P	Worcester, MA	Worcester Academy (MA)	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	N/A	Nov 21, 2018
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (98)
Zia Cooke #1 PG	Toledo, OH	Rogers	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	N/A	Nov 6, 2018
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (98)
Laeticia Amihere #2 F	Milton, ON	King's Way Christian	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	N/A	Nov 14, 2018
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (98)
Brea Beal #3 W	Rock Island, IL	Rock Island	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A	Nov 8, 2018
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (98)
Overall recruit ranking:    ESPN: 1
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, On3, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on November 4, 2019. Retrieved November 4, 2019.

SEC Media Poll

SEC media poll
Predicted finish	Team
1	South Carolina
2	Texas A&M
3	Mississippi State
4	Kentucky
5	Arkansas
6	Tennessee
7	Auburn
8	LSU
9	Missouri
10	Georgia
11	Alabama
12	Florida
13	Ole Miss
14	Vanderbilt

Roster

2019–20 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 Olivia Thompson 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Lexington HS Lexington, SC G 1 Zia Cooke 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Fr Rogers HS Toledo, OH G 3 Destanni Henderson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) So Fort Myers HS Fort Myers, FL F 4 Aliyah Boston 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Worcester (Mass.) Academy Saint Thomas, VI F 5 Victaria Saxton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) So Model Rome, GA G 11 Destiny Littleton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS So The Bishop's School Texas San Diego, CA G 12 Brea Beal 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Rock Island HS Rock Island, IL F 15 Laeticia Amihere 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) RS Fr Kings Way Christian Mississauga, ON F 21 Mikiah Herbert Harrigan 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Flanagan HS Pembroke Pines, FL G 24 Lele Grissett 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Hillside HS Durham, NC F 32 Elysa Wesolek 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) So Northwood Academy Charleston, SC G 52 Tyasha Harris 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) Sr Heritage Christian HS Noblesville, IN	Head coach Dawn Staley (Virginia) Assistant coach(es) Lisa Boyer (Ithaca) Fred Chmiel (Alaska–Anchorage) Jolette Law (Iowa) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
11/01/2019* 7:00 pm	No. 8	North Georgia	W 112–48	–	18 – Cooke	8 – Boston	5 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
Regular season
11/05/2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 8	Alabama State	W 103–43	1–0	13 – Tied	12 – Boston	4 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (10,586) Columbia, SC
11/10/2019* 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 8	at No. 4 Maryland	W 63–54	2–0	14 – Boston	10 – Beal	4 – Tied	Xfinity Center (7,447) College Park, MD
11/13/2019* 3:00 pm	No. 6	at Dayton	W 75–49	3–0	27 – Cooke	10 – Beal	7 – Harris	UD Arena (2,331) Dayton, OH
11/17/2019* 2:00 pm, SECN+	No. 6	Appalachian State	W 92–50	4–0	21 – Herbert Harrigan	10 – Boston	4 – Brea	Colonial Life Arena (10,498) Columbia, SC
11/21/2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 5	USC Upstate	W 112–32	5–0	18 – Tied	10 – Boston	6 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (10,052) Columbia, SC
11/24/2019* 2:00 pm, ACCN	No. 5	at Clemson Rivalry	W 84–48	6–0	13 – Herbert Harrigan	9 – Herbert Harrigan	4 – Henderson	Littlejohn Coliseum (2,840) Clemson, SC
11/28/2019* 8:00 pm	No. 5	vs. No. 17 Indiana Paradise Jam	L 57–71	6–1	13 – Herbert Harrigan	8 – Herbert Harrigan	5 – Harris	Sports and Fitness Center (1,924) St. Thomas, USVI
11/29/2019* 8:00 pm	No. 5	vs. Washington State Paradise Jam	W 68–53	7–1	20 – Herbert Harrigan	8 – Boston	3 – Harris	Sports and Fitness Center (1,806) Saint Thomas, USVI
11/30/2019* 8:00 pm	No. 5	vs. No. 2 Baylor Paradise Jam	W 74–59	8–1	20 – Tied	13 – Boston	7 – Harris	Sports and Fitness Center (2,424) Saint Thomas, USVI
12/07/2019* 3:00 pm	No. 6	at Temple	W 78–71	9–1	21 – Harris	8 – Boston	7 – Harris	McGonigle Hall (1,802) Philadelphia, PA
12/15/2019* 2:00 pm, SECN+	No. 5	Purdue	W 85–49	10–1	15 – Henderson	9 – Amihere	5 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (11,306) Columbia, SC
12/19/2019* 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 5	Duke	W 89–46	11–1	12 – Tied	8 – Tied	3 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (11,024) Columbia, SC
12/22/2019* 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 5	No. 25 South Dakota	W 73–60	12–1	17 – Grissett	9 – Boston	3 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (10,505) Columbia, SC
01/02/2020 7:40 pm, SECN	No. 4	No. 13 Kentucky	W 99–72	13–1 (1–0)	15 – Tied	6 – Boston	8 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena (12,261) Columbia, SC
01/05/2020 6:00 pm, SECN	No. 4	at Alabama	W 93–78	14–1 (2–0)	20 – Cooke	12 – Boston	7 – Harris	Coleman Coliseum (2,168) Tuscaloosa, AL
01/09/2020 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 4	No. 21 Arkansas	W 91–82	15–1 (3–0)	21 – Cooke	25 – Boston	7 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (10,234) Columbia, SC
01/12/2020 5:00 pm, SECN	No. 4	at Vanderbilt	W 93–57	16–1 (4–0)	17 – Cooke	8 – Boston	6 – Harris	Memorial Gymnasium (2,447) Nashville, TN
01/16/2020 8:30 pm, SECN	No. 1	at Missouri	W 78–45	17–1 (5–0)	14 – Tied	13 – Beal	5 – Harris	Mizzou Arena (3,576) Columbia, MO
01/20/2020 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	No. 9 Mississippi State	W 81–79	18–1 (6–0)	23 – Harris	12 – Boston	7 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (13,163) Columbia, SC
01/26/2020 3:00 pm, SECN	No. 1	at Georgia	W 88–53	19–1 (7–0)	15 – Boston	6 – Tied	7 – Harris	Stegeman Coliseum (6,047) Athens, GA
01/30/2020 8:00 pm, SECN+	No. 1	at Ole Miss	W 87–32	20–1 (8–0)	16 – Amihere	8 – Boston	3 – Tied	The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,225) Oxford, MS
02/02/2020 1:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	No. 22 Tennessee	W 69–48	21–1 (9–0)	20 – Cooke	8 – Herbert Harrigan	9 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (13,735) Columbia, SC
02/06/2020 8:30 pm, SECN	No. 1	at No. 25 Arkansas	W 86–65	22–1 (10–0)	25 – Herbert Harrigan	15 – Boston	5 – Harris	Bud Walton Arena (2,452) Fayetteville, AR
02/10/2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	No. 5 UConn	W 70–52	23–1	19 – Harris	12 – Boston	11 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC
02/13/2020 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 1	Auburn	W 79–53	24–1 (11–0)	13 – Tied	8 – Saxton	5 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (11,417) Columbia, SC
02/17/2020 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 1	Vanderbilt	W 95–44	25–1 (12–0)	14 – Grissett	14 – Boston	6 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena (11,249) Columbia, SC
02/20/2020 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 1	LSU	W 63–48	26–1 (13–0)	13 – Boston	9 – Boston	6 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (11,242) Columbia, SC
02/23/2020 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	at No. 14 Kentucky	W 67–58	27–1 (14–0)	20 – Cooke	11 – Boston	6 – Harris	Memorial Coliseum (7,174) Lexington, KY
02/27/2020 6:00 pm, SECN+	No. 1	at Florida	W 100–67	28–1 (15–0)	18 – Herbert Harrigan	9 – Tied	8 – Harris	O'Connell Center  Gainesville, FL
03/01/2020 Noon, ESPN2	No. 1	No. 12 Texas A&M	W 60–52	29–1 (16–0)	20 – Herbert Harrigan	12 – Boston	6 – Harris	Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC
SEC Tournament
03/06/2020 Noon, SECN	(1) No. 1	vs. (9) Georgia Quarterfinals	W 89–56	30–1	16 – Herbert Harrigan	10 – Boston	7 – Henderson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
03/07/2020 5:00 pm, ESPNU	(1) No. 1	vs. (5) No. 25 Arkansas Semifinals	W 90–64	31–1	21 – Henderson	13 – Boston	7 – Harris	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
03/08/2020 2:00 pm, ESPN2	(1) No. 1	vs. (2) No. 9 Mississippi State Championship	W 76–62	32–1	15 – Herbert Harrigan	11 – Tied	10 – Harris	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. [5]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the NCAA ended all play on March 12, 2020.

Rankings

Main article: 2019–20 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	8	8	6	5	5	6	5	5	4 (1)	4 (1)	4 (1)	1 (20)	1 (22)	1 (26)	1 (26)	1 (27)	1 (27)	1 (27)	1 (27)	1 (27)	1 (26)
Coaches	10	10	10^	6	6	7	6	6	5	5	5	2 (12)	2 (12)	2 (12)	2 (13)	1 (17)	1 (20)	1 (20)	1 (23)	1 (27)	1 (26)

^Coaches did not release a Week 2 poll

On December 31, 2020, during the 2020-21 home opener against Florida, the Gamecocks raised a championship banner recognising the mythical national championship claim by polls, located next to the 2017 NCAA championship banner. Following the 2021-22 season with an official NCAA championship, that season's NCAA championship banner was placed next to the 2019-20 banner, and is the same size as the official banners.^[6]