2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by thirteenth-year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at Colonial Life Arena and competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 26–5 (14–2 SEC), won the SEC tournament, and won a bid to the NCAA tournament where they advanced to the Final Four and lost to Stanford.

2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
SEC tournament champions
NCAA tournament, Final Four
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 6
Record	26–5 (14–2 SEC)
Head coach	Dawn Staley (13th season)
Assistant coaches	Lisa Boyer Fred Chmiel Jolette Law
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena
Seasons ← 2019–20 2021–22 →

2020–21 SEC women's basketball standings

v t e	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 4 Texas A&M	13	–	1		.929			25	–	3		.893
No. 6 South Carolina †	14	–	2		.875			26	–	5		.839
No. 13 Tennessee	9	–	4		.692			17	–	8		.680
No. 10 Georgia	10	–	5		.667			20	–	6		.769
No. 15 Arkansas	9	–	6		.600			19	–	8		.704
No. 18 Kentucky	9	–	6		.600			18	–	8		.692
Alabama	8	–	8		.500			16	–	9		.640
LSU	6	–	8		.429			9	–	13		.409
Mississippi State	5	–	7		.417			10	–	9		.526
Missouri	5	–	9		.357			9	–	13		.409
Ole Miss	4	–	10		.286			15	–	12		.556
Florida	3	–	11		.214			12	–	14		.462
Auburn	0	–	15		.000			5	–	19		.208
Vanderbilt%	0	–	3		.000			4	–	4		.500
† 2021 SEC tournament winner % Vanderbilt suspended their season on January 18, 2021 As of March 21, 2021 Rankings from AP poll

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the season with a 32–1 overall record and a 16–0 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2020 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, however the tournament was not held due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and were de facto named mythical national championship by finishing first in the major wire service polls, the AP Poll and Coaches Poll. On December 31, 2020, during the Florida game, the program raised a banner to recognise the claim.

Offseason

Departures

South Carolina Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Notes
Mikiah Herbert Harrigan	21	F	6'2"	Senior	Pembroke Pines, FL	Graduated; Drafted sixth overall by the Minnesota Lynx.
Tyasha Harris	52	G	5'10"	Senior	Noblesville, IN	Graduated; Drafted seventh overall by the Dallas Wings.

2020 recruiting class

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight	Commit date
Eniya Russell PG	Baltimore, MD	St. Vincent Pallotti High School	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	N/A
	Recruit ratings: ESPN:    (96)
Overall recruit ranking:
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:

Preseason

SEC Media Poll

The SEC media poll was released on November 17, 2020 with the Gamecocks selected to finish in first place in the SEC.^[1]

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

Preseason All-SEC teams

The Gamecocks had two players selected to the preseason all-SEC teams.

First team Aliyah Boston

Second team Zia Cooke

Roster

2020–21 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) So Lexington HS Lexington, SC G 1 Zia Cooke 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) So Rogers HS Toledo, OH G 2 Eniya Russell 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Fr St. Vincent Pallotti HS Baltimore, MD G 3 Destanni Henderson 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Jr Fort Myers HS Fort Myers, FL F 4 Aliyah Boston 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) So Worcester (Mass.) Academy Saint Thomas, USVI F 5 Victaria Saxton 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Jr Model Rome, GA G 11 Destiny Littleton 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) RS Jr The Bishop's School Texas San Diego, CA G 12 Brea Beal 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So Rock Island HS Rock Island, IL F 15 Laeticia Amihere 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) So Kings Way Christian Mississauga, ON G 24 Lele Grissett 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) Sr Hillside HS Durham, NC F 32 Elysa Wesolek 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) Jr Northwood Academy Charleston, SC	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
Regular season
November 25, 2020* Noon, SECN+	No. 1	College of Charleston	W 119–38	1–0	19 – Saxton	12 – Tied	4 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena (3,500) Columbia, SC
November 28, 2020* 3:30 pm, FloHoops	No. 1	vs. South Dakota Crossover Classic	W 81–71	2–0	19 – Tied	9 – Tied	4 – Boston	Sanford Pentagon  Sioux Falls, SD
November 29, 2020* 3:30 pm	No. 1	vs. Oklahoma Crossover Classic	Canceled due to COVID-19					Sanford Pentagon  Sioux Falls, SD
November 29, 2020* 3:30 pm	No. 1	vs. No. 21 Gonzaga Crossover Classic	W 79–72	3–0	23 – Henderson	7 – Beal	4 – Cooke	Sanford Pentagon  Sioux Falls, SD
December 3, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 1	No. 8 NC State Jimmy V Classic	L 46–54	3–1	11 – Tied	15 – Amihere	6 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena (3,500) Columbia, SC
December 6, 2020* 12:00 pm, ESPNU	No. 1	at No. 23 Iowa State Big 12/SEC Women's Challenge	W 83–65	4–1	19 – Cooke	15 – Boston	7 – Henderson	Hilton Coliseum (864) Ames, IA
December 17, 2020* 8:00 pm	No. 5	Temple	W 103–41	5–1	23 – Cooke	9 – Boston	7 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
December 31, 2021	No. 5	Florida	W 75–59	6–1 (1–0)	28 – Boston	16 – Boston	5 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
January 4, 2021 5:00 pm	No. 5	at Alabama	W 77–60	7–1 (2–0)	20 – Henderson	10 – Tied	5 – Henderson	Coleman Coliseum  Tuscaloosa, AL
January 10, 2021	No. 5	at No. 10 Kentucky	W 75–70	8–1 (3–0)	22 – Henderson	12 – Boston	3 – Henderson	Memorial Coliseum  Lexington, KY
January 14, 2021 8:00 pm	No. 5	at Vanderbilt	W 106–43	9–1 (4–0)	20 – Saxton	12 – Grissett	9 – Henderson	Memorial Gymnasium  Nashville, TN
January 18, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 4	No. 17 Arkansas	W 104–82	10–1 (5–0)	26 – Boston	16 – Boston	10 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
January 21, 2021 6:30 pm, SECN	No. 4	No. 22 Georgia	W 62–50	11–1 (6–0)	16 – Tied	11 – Tied	3 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
January 24, 2021 1:00 pm, SECN	No. 4	at LSU	W 69–65	12–1 (7–0)	20 – Boston	14 – Boston	8 – Henderson	Pete Maravich Assembly Center  Baton Rouge, LA
January 28, 2021 7:00 pm, ESPN	No. 4	at No. 21 Mississippi State	W 75–52	13–1 (8–0)	19 – Cooke	12 – Boston	3 – Cooke	Humphrey Coliseum  Starkville, MS
January 31, 2021 3:00 pm, SECN	No. 4	Alabama	W 87–63	14–1 (9–0)	21 – Cooke	13 – Boston	6 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
February 4, 2021 7:00 pm, SECN+	No. 2	at Auburn	W 77–58	15–1 (10–0)	17 – Cooke	9 – Amihere	9 – Henderson	Auburn Arena  Auburn, AL
February 8, 2021* 7:00 pm, FS1	No. 1	at No. 2 UConn	L 59–63 OT	15–2	17 – Boston	15 – Boston	3 – Tied	Harry A. Gampel Pavilion  Storrs, CT
February 11, 2021 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 1	Missouri	W 77–62	16–2 (11–0)	15 – Cooke	12 – Boston	3 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
February 14, 2021 Noon, SECN	No. 1	LSU	W 66–59	17–2 (12–0)	19 – Henderson	13 – Boston	4 – Cooke	Colonial Life Arena (3,500) Columbia, SC
February 18, 2021 7:00 pm, SECN	No. 2	at No. 21 Tennessee	L 67–75	17–3 (12–1)	17 – Boston	16 – Boston	6 – Henderson	Thompson–Boling Arena (2,512) Knoxville, TN
February 21, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN	No. 2	No. 17 Kentucky	W 76–55	18–3 (13–1)	21 – Cooke	13 – Amihere	3 – Boston	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
February 25, 2021 1:00 pm, SECN	No. 5	Ole Miss	W 68–43	19–3 (14–1)	17 – Cooke	11 – Boston	4 – Henderson	Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
February 28, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2	No. 5	at No. 3 Texas A&M	L 57–65	19–4 (14–2)	15 – Tied	11 – Boston	6 – Henderson	Reed Arena  College Station, TX
SEC Tournament
March 5, 2021 5:00 pm, SECN	(2) No. 7	vs. (7) Alabama Quarterfinals	W 75–63	20–4	22 – Cooke	13 – Boston	5 – Henderson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
March 6, 2021 8:30 pm, ESPNU	(2) No. 7	vs. (3) No. 13 Tennessee Semifinals	W 67–52	21–4	22 – Cooke	13 – Boston	5 – Henderson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena (2,662) Greenville, SC
March 7, 2021 2:00 pm, ESPN2	(2) No. 7	vs. (4) No. 16 Georgia Championship	W 67–62	22–4	27 – Boston	10 – Boston	3 – Henderson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena  Greenville, SC
NCAA tournament
March 21, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1 H) No. 6	vs. (16 H) Mercer First Round	W 79–53	23–4	20 – Tied	18 – Boston	4 – Henderson	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 23, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN	(1 H) No. 6	vs. (8 H) Oregon State Second Round	W 59–42	24–4	19 – Boston	11 – Beal	2 – Tied	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 27, 2021* 1:00 pm, ABC	(1 H) No. 6	vs. (5 H) Georgia Tech Sweet Sixteen	W 76–65	25–4	17 – Cooke	7 – Amihere	7 – Henderson	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
March 30, 2021* 7:00 pm, ESPN	(1 H) No. 6	vs. (6 H) Texas Elite Eight	W 62–34	26–4	16 – Cooke	8 – Tied	7 – Henderson	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
April 2, 2021* 6:00 pm, ESPN	(1 H) No. 6	vs. (1 A) No. 2 Stanford Final Four	L 65–66	26–5	25 – Cooke	16 – Boston	3 – Henderson	Alamodome  San Antonio, TX
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. H=HemisFair A=Alamo. All times are in Eastern Time. [2]

See also

• 2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team