South Carolina fell to UConn in a 82-59 national championship loss.

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley hugs guard Raven Johnson. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

The South Carolina Gamecocks were humbled by UConn in a 82-59 loss during the NCAA national championship game. Though South Carolina had been the most dominant team in women’s college basketball over the last two years, they were unable to replicate that magic and got blown out by the Huskies.

The defeat marked South Carolina’s first ever in the national championship game, as the Gamecocks had previously been a perfect 3-0 in the tournament final.

After the game, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley expressed that she hopes this loss will motivate her team to come back better next season.

“I hope they’re crying,” Staley told reporters when asked what she hopes her younger players take away from the team’s run to the final.

“I hope they’re boo-hoo’ing, because from crying and having emotion about losing makes you work a little bit harder in the offseason, makes you look at it and really analyze what’s the separation from their program and our program, and how we close the gap to that.

They’re very talented and I think they got a great experience of playing at this level that I hope they have a desire to get back here and do all the things that it takes to play in the national championship game and then deliver the blows as needed to win.”

Motivation did the Gamecocks well the last time they did not win the national championship at the end of the season. When South Carolina fell to LSU in the 2023 NCAA Final Four, they responded by going undefeated and winning the national championship the following year.

For the senior class that will not be returning next season, Staley left them with an encouraging sentiment.

“They’re the winningest class over this four-year period,” Staley said. “There’s nothing to hang their heads about and I made sure I told them that because basketball, if you play it long enough, you’re gonna have some heartbreaks. …

We’ve been very fortunate to have a senior class that was as giving to themselves, to our program, to the game.”