Dawn Staley vividly calling shots during South Carolina’s win against TCU on Sunday. – Source: Chris Jones, Imagn

South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Dawn Staley is all smiles after handing the TCU Horned Frogs their first loss of the 2024-2025 season. Earlier on Sunday, Dec. 8, Staley and the Gamecocks blew out Hailey Van Lith and TCU, 85-52, to improve to a 9-1 record on the Southeastern campaign.

During the post-game presser, the reigning two-time NCAA champion coach was asked about the impact of South Carolina’s winning ways as of late in growing women’s basketball as a whole—given the Gamecocks’ rising fanbase.

“Women’s basketball is here. It’s not coming, it’s arrived. Every arena that we’ve played in has been packed. We’re in high demand. You could probably schedule a game on the moon and there will be people going there. Women’s basketball on the moon,” Staley expressed. (2:00).

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“I’m happy for our game. It’s long overdue. It’s televised. This is the place that we’ve always envisioned ourselves. Maybe some other people didn’t have this kind of vision. But, the players, coaches, and fans, they envision us being here. So, there’s no turning back,” she mightily stated. (2:37)

As one of the top teams in the overall college basketball landscape, Staley and the Gamecocks are doing their own due diligence to progress the sport.

Back in the 2024 NCAA National Championship game against now WNBA standout Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes, 24 million viewers from ESPN and ABC tuned in at its peak, with an average of 18.7 million viewers in total. This was the first time in history that there were more viewers for the women’s final than the men’s.

With South Carolina looking to defend their back-to-back championships this year, they’ll look to stay on course as conference play is approaching. Their next assignment will be the South Florida Bulls next Sunday, Dec. 15, at the Colonial Life Arena.

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Staley was asked how it feels to have TCU unexpectedly on their schedule as the program has made waves this season especially with star Hailey Van Lith in the roster. The WNBA legend talked about how she is excited for the challenge, as it’s great for the women’s game as a whole.

“With how they’re playing, the type of season and team they have, I think it’s great for women’s basketball to have as many people on a Sunday night show up. I just thought it was another great top 10 matchup for us and we brought our A-game,” Staley shared. (1:20)

With a long season ahead of them and conference games nearing, the South Carolina Gamecocks will have tougher tasks to handle in their bid for a historic championship three-peat.