South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley was told that her team’s loss to UConn was the reason why the Gamecocks fell to the second spot in the NCAA bracket reveal.

Dawn Staley was sent a brutal reminder of South Carolina’s stuggles of late (Image: Getty Images)

Dawn Staley, the coach of South Carolina’s women’s basketball team, has been given a stark reminder of her team’s recent struggles.

Just days before Selection Sunday, the NCAA released the top 16 bracket for women’s basketball, and the Gamecocks find themselves in a less than ideal position. Despite being ranked No. 5 overall, they are placed in the Birmingham 4 region alongside Notre Dame.

This is largely due to their loss to UConn, which saw them drop from the first to the second spot. Derita Dawkings, chair of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee, confirmed on ESPN2 that this loss was a significant factor in their fall in the standings.

“The UConn-South Carolina game, that was a 29-point win for UConn, is part of what led to South Carolina not being on the one line anymore,” Dawkins said. “If you look at our one, two and three, our overall one, two and three, those teams have not lost since the last reveal.”

The Birmingham 4 region sees Notre Dame with the No. 1 seed, followed by South Carolina, Tennessee and Oklahoma. Meanwhile, USC, UConn, Duke and Kentucky makeup the Spokane 3 region. UCLA, LSU, North Carolina and Kansas State are in the Spokane 1 region, while Texas, NC State, TCU and Ohio State round off the top 16 in the Birmingham 2 region.

Following their 29-point loss to UConn, Staley had some strong words for her team. “Since we’re on a higher education campus, F. F. F. F. F,” she told reporters after the loss.

Staley is hoping to lead South Carolina to another championship (Image: Getty Images)
“I mean, it’s, this season is a long season, right? You play a team like UConn, like now, you win. It may have some ill effect to the next game. You lose, and it definitely will wake you up. So, hopefully, it will be the latter, and we can get back going against Arkansas on Thursday.”

Despite the heavy defeat, the coach acknowledged there wasn’t much to do but to steer the team back toward victory. Staley emphasized returning to fundamentals and boosting her players’ confidence. “I mean, you just get back to your habits,” she stated when asked about potential changes in their approach to big games. “We’re not going to change, wholesale change what we’re doing. I mean, a loss like this is about toughness.

“A loss like this isn’t about anything besides getting our players to just keeping the main thing the main thing. Obviously, when you lose like this, there’s something else that’s going on that isn’t just about basketball. So we got to figure that out and get back on it. Get back on it.”

The anticipation builds as the full NCAA Tournament bracket is set to be announced on March 16. The Gamecocks may still yet recover a top-four seed after Notre Dame suffered a shock home loss to Florida State on Thursday, losing by just five points.