U of SC Women’s Basketball Team’s Dream is Cut Short by COVID-19
After completing a spectacular regular season and winning the SEC Tournament, the South Carolina women’s basketball team had no choice but to push aside their dream of winning the 2020 NCAA Tournament. The outbreak of COVID-19 in the United States led to the shutdown of all professional and college sports across the country ending the Gamecock’s season prematurely.
On March 8 the University of South Carolina women’s basketball team defeated Mississippi State to win their 5th SEC Tournament in program history. Four days later, the NCAA announced the cancelation of the Men’s and Women’s NCAA Tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year had held a lot of promise for the Gamecocks who finished the regular season off at number one in the nation before the cancelation. South Carolina had been heavily favored to win the tournament this year and claim their second national title in program history, but due to unfortunate circumstances they were not given the chance.
The South Carolina women’s basketball team put together a great reel of highlight moments this year for their program. The Gamecocks had 14 ranked wins and this season marked the first time in team history that the Gamecocks defeated UCONN. Freshman forward, Aliyah Boston, was named national freshman of the year and SEC defensive player of the year, and Head Coach, Dawn Staley, was named national coach of the year. When looking back on this season it can be seen as a major success for the Gamecocks, but what really hurts is the team was not given the opportunity to play for the national title.
The team has had their sights set on going back to the Final 4 and winning their second national championship since they defeated Mississippi State in Dallas for their first title in 2017. Since their title win in 2017, the team has made a tournament appearance every year. In 2018 the team made it to the Elite Eight where they were put down by UCONN who has won five titles in the past ten year, and in 2019 they made a run to the Sweet Sixteen where they lost to Baylor who would later end up winning the title that year.
Those who perhaps have had it the hardest due to the cancelation are the seniors on the team who had expected to go all the way to the championship, but now no longer have another chance to get there. Senior forward, Mikiah (Kiki) Herbert Harrigan, had an incredible year averaging 13.1 points per game, shooting 44.4% from beyond the arc and 50.3% for field goals. She was recently drafted by the Minnesota Lynx of the WNBA as the sixth pick in the first round. Harrigan showed sorrowful emotion when hearing the news that the tournament had been canceled according to what coach Staley told ESPN. Although Harrigan seems to have a promising career ahead of her I am sure she will think back on this time and wonder, “what if?”
Head Coach, Dawn Staley, had a very empowering phone interview with ESPN where she explained how competitive she thought this tournament would be, “this by far probably would’ve been the most competitive Women’s basketball NCAA Tournament ever just packed with exciting players talented players who are seniors and juniors.” Staley has been Head Coach of the team for 12 seasons and is a key benefactor in the relatively recent come up of the program at South Carolina. In her 12 seasons, Staley has taken the team to 8 NCAA Tournaments in the last 8 years and has taken the team to the Final Four twice.
The Gamecock’s only loss on the season came early during cross conference play against Indiana. The Gamecock’s got into foul trouble early as four players on the team had four fouls or more hurting their chances right from the start. After regrouping and taking the lead at the end of the third quarter the Gamecocks foul trouble once again became an issue. Two of the Gamecock’s five starters fouled out and shots stopped falling ultimately leading to a 71–57 Hoosiers victory in the Virgin Islands.
Currently, the South Carolina women’s basketball team is trying to claim the title another way. When the season ended on March 12 the Team had been ranked number one in the country for nine weeks running by winning their final 26 games of the season, and finishing 32–1. There has been debate that the 2020 National Title should be handed to the Gamecocks because of their impressive season, which also included a regular season and conference tournament championship. It is currently unclear if a banner will be hung up in Colonial Life Arena indicating another national title win in 2020, but the team could have 2021 to look forward to as 3 of their 5 best scorers are sophomores or freshman.
