2025–26 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

2025–26 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
2025–26 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
SEC regular season champions; The Real SC Champions
NCAA tournament
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 4
Record	31–3 (15–1 SEC)
Head coach	Dawn Staley (18th season);
Assistant coaches	Lisa Boyer; Wendale Farrow; Jolette Law; Khadijah Sessions; Mary Wooley;
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena

2025–26 SEC women's basketball standings
	Conf.				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
No. 4 South Carolina	15	–	1	.938	31	–	3	.912
No. 6 Vanderbilt	13	–	3	.813	27	–	4	.871
No. 3 Texas †	13	–	3	.813	31	–	3	.912
No. 5 LSU	12	–	4	.750	27	–	5	.844
No. 10 Oklahoma	11	–	5	.688	24	–	7	.774
Tennessee	8	–	8	.500	16	–	13	.552
No. 19 Ole Miss	8	–	8	.500	23	–	11	.676
No. 24 Georgia	8	–	8	.500	22	–	9	.710
No. 16 Kentucky	8	–	8	.500	23	–	10	.697
Texas A&M	7	–	9	.438	14	–	13	.519
Alabama	7	–	9	.438	23	–	10	.697
Florida	5	–	11	.313	18	–	15	.545
Mississippi State	5	–	11	.313	18	–	13	.581
Missouri	4	–	12	.250	17	–	16	.515
Auburn	3	–	13	.188	15	–	17	.469
Arkansas	1	–	15	.063	12	–	20	.375

† 2026 SEC tournament winner As of March 19, 2026 Rankings from AP poll

The 2025–26 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represents the University of South Carolina during the 2025–26 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by eighteenth-year head coach Dawn Staley, play their home games at Colonial Life Arena and compete as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC).

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2024–25 season 35–4, 15–1 in SEC play to share the SEC regular season title with Texas. As the No. 1 seed in the SEC tournament, they defeated Vanderbilt, Oklahoma and Texas to win the SEC Tournament. They received an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 seed Birmingham 2 region. They defeated Tennessee Tech and Indiana in the first and second rounds, Maryland in the sweet sixteen, Duke in the elite eight to advanced their 5th straight Final Four where they defeated SEC member Texas before losing to the national championship to UConn.

Offseason

Departures

South Carolina Departures
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Te-Hina Paopao	0	G	5'9"	Senior	Oceanside, CA	Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 18th overall by Atlanta Dream
MiLaysia Fulwiley	12	G	5'10"	Sophomore	Columbia, SC	Transferred to LSU^[1]
Sania Feagin	20	F	6'3"	Senior	Ellenwood, GA	Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 21st overall by Los Angeles Sparks
Bree Hall	23	G	6'0"	Senior	Dayton, OH	Graduated/2025 WNBA draft; selected 20th overall by Indiana Fever
Sakima Walker	35	C	6'5"	Senior	Columbus, OH	Transferred to California^[2]

Incoming transfers

South Carolina incoming transfers
Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Year	Hometown	Previous school
Ta'Niya Latson	00	G	5'8"	Senior	Miami, FL	Florida State
Madina Okot	11	C	6'6"	Senior	Mumias, Kenya	Mississippi State

2025 recruiting class

College recruiting information
Name	Hometown	School	Height	Weight
Agot Makeer W	Ontario, Canada	Montverde Academy	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
Agot Makeer W	Recruit ratings: ESPN: (97)
Ayla McDowell W	Cypress, TX	Cypress Springs	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	N/A
Ayla McDowell W	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: "2025 Player Commits". ESPN. Archived from the original on September 15, 2025.

Roster

2025–26 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Year	Previous school	Hometown
G	00	Ta'Niya Latson	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	Sr	American Heritage Florida State	Miami, FL
G	1	Maddy McDaniel	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	So	Bishop McNamara	Upper Marlboro, MD
G	5	Tessa Johnson	6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)	Jr	St. Michael-Albertville HS	Albertville, MN
F	8	Joyce Edwards	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)	So	Camden	Camden, SC
C	11	Madina Okot	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	Sr	Kaya Tiwi Secondary School Mississippi State	Mumias, Kenya
G	15	Adhel Tac	6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)	RS So	South Grand Prairie	Grand Prairie, TX
F	21	Chloe Kitts	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	Sr	DME Academy	Oviedo, FL
G	24	Ayla McDowell	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Cypress Springs	Cypress, TX
G	25	Raven Johnson	5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)	RS Sr	Westlake	Atlanta, GA
F	30	Maryam Dauda	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	RS Sr	Bentonville Arkansas	Bentonville, AR
F	31	Alicia Tournebize	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	Fr	Lycée Alain Fournier Tango Bourges Basket	Charmeil, France
G	44	Agot Makeer	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	Fr	Montverde Academy	Thunder Bay, ON

Head coach

Dawn Staley (Virginia)

Assistant coach(es)

Lisa Boyer (Ithaca)
Jolette Law (Iowa)
Wendale Farrow (Eastern Michigan)
Khadijah Sessions (South Carolina)
Mary Wooley (USC Aiken)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on

Injured
Current redshirt

Roster

Preseason

SEC Media Poll

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

Source:^[3]

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Rank^#	Opponent^#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
October 24, 2025* 7:00 p.m.	No. 2	Anderson	W 112–31		27 – Edwards	15 – Okot	4 – Meeker	Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
October 30, 2025* 6:00 p.m.	No. 2	vs. No. 11 North Carolina Bad Boy Mowers Series - Atlanta	W 91–82		19 – Tied	9 – Edwards	5 – R. Johnson	State Farm Arena (500) Atlanta, GA
Regular season
November 3, 2025* 7:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 2	Grand Canyon	W 94–54	1–0	20 – Latson	8 – R. Johnson	7 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (15,601) Columbia, SC
November 7, 2025* 7:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 2	Bowling Green	W 114–47	2–0	24 – Edwards	11 – Okot	11 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (16,649) Columbia, SC
November 11, 2025* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 2	Clemson Rivalry	W 65–37	3–0	18 – Edwards	12 – Okot	3 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (16,623) Columbia, SC
November 15, 2025* 9:00 p.m., FOX	No. 2	vs. No. 8 USC The Real SC	W 69–52	4–0	17 – Edwards	15 – Okot	5 – T. Johnson	Crypto.com Arena (8,150) Los Angeles, CA
November 19, 2025* 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 2	Winthrop	W 106–56	5–0	24 – Latson	11 – Okot	10 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (15,787) Columbia, SC
November 23, 2025* 2:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 2	Queens	W 121–49	6–0	25 – Edwards	12 – Okot	7 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (15,222) Columbia, SC
November 26, 2025* 4:30 p.m., TruTV	No. 2	vs. Duke Players Era Festival semifinals	W 83–66	7–0	23 – Okot	13 – Okot	6 – Tied	Michelob Ultra Arena (2,386) Paradise, NV
November 27, 2025* 8:00 p.m, TruTV	No. 2	vs. No. 4 Texas Players Era Festival Championship Game	L 64–66	7–1	16 – Tied	11 – Okot	6 – R. Johnson	Michelob Ultra Arena Paradise, NV
December 4, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	at No. 22 Louisville ACC–SEC Challenge	W 79–77	8–1	23 – Okot	13 – Okot	8 – R. Johnson	KFC Yum! Center (10,012) Louisville, KY
December 7, 2025* 12:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	North Carolina Central	W 106–42	9–1	32 – Latson	10 – Edwards	6 – Edwards	Colonial Life Arena (15,677) Columbia, SC
December 14, 2025* 3:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	Penn State	W 95–55	10–1	29 – Edwards	7 – R. Johnson	8 – Latson	Colonial Life Arena (15,601) Columbia, SC
December 18, 2025* 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 3	at South Florida	W 103–44	11–1	34 – Edwards	10 – Okot	6 – R. Johnson	Yuengling Center (3,767) Tampa, FL
December 20, 2025* 2:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 3	at Florida Gulf Coast	W 105–43	12–1	29 – Edwards	12 – Okot	7 – Latson	Alico Arena (3,527) Fort Myers, FL
December 28, 2025* 12:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	Providence	W 96–55	13–1	18 – Tied	13 – Okot	6 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (15,065) Columbia, SC
January 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 3	Alabama	W 83–57	14–1 (1–0)	25 – Edwards	9 – Okot	5 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (14,367) Columbia, SC
January 4, 2026 2:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	at Florida	W 74–63	15–1 (2–0)	17 – R. Johnson	17 – Okot	5 – McDaniel	O'Connell Center (6,006) Gainesville, FL
January 8, 2026 7:30 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 3	at Arkansas	W 93–58	16–1 (3–0)	22 – Edwards	10 – Okot	6 – McDaniel	Bud Walton Arena (2,963) Fayetteville, AR
January 11, 2026 2:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	Georgia We Back Pat	W 65–43	17−1 (4−0)	14 – Tied	10 – Tied	3 – Latson	Colonial Life Arena (15,536) Columbia, SC
January 15, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 2	No. 4 Texas	W 68–65	18−1 (5−0)	14 – Edwards	8 – Edwards	6 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (17,188) Columbia, SC
January 18, 2026* 12:00 p.m., ESPN+	No. 2	at Coppin State	W 90–48	19–1	26 – Edwards	12 – Okot	5 – Latson	Physical Education Complex (3,371) Baltimore, MD
January 22, 2026 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 2	at No. 16 Oklahoma	L 82–94 ^OT	19–2 (5–1)	19 – T. Johnson	6 – Tac	5 – R. Johnson	Lloyd Noble Center (7,402) Norman, OK
January 25, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 2	No. 5 Vanderbilt	W 103–74	20–2 (6–1)	21 – Latson	7 – Tied	6 – Tied	Colonial Life Arena (17,002) Columbia, SC
January 29, 2026 9:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	at Auburn	W 81–51	21–2 (7–1)	20 – Edwards	6 – Okot	6 – McDaniel	Neville Arena (4,099) Auburn, AL
February 2, 2026 8:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 3	at Texas A&M	W 71–56	22–2 (8–1)	28 – Edwards	11 – Edwards	8 – R. Johnson	Reed Arena (4,332) College Station, TX
February 5, 2026 6:30 p.m., SECN	No. 3	Mississippi State Play4Kay	W 88–45	23–2 (9–1)	21 – Edwards	10 – Okot	7 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (15,204) Columbia, SC
February 8, 2026 3:00 p.m., ABC	No. 3	No. 19 Tennessee	W 93–50	24–2 (10–1)	21 – Latson	15 – Okot	7 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (16,206) Columbia, SC
February 14, 2026 8:30 p.m., ABC	No. 3	at No. 6 LSU	W 79–72	25–2 (11–1)	21 – T. Johnson	17 – Okot	6 – R. Johnson	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (13,200) Baton Rouge, LA
February 19, 2026 8:30 p.m., SECN	No. 3	at No. 25 Alabama	W 76–57	26–2 (12–1)	23 – Edwards	16 – Okot	4 – Tied	Coleman Coliseum (3,703) Tuscaloosa, AL
February 22, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	No. 17 Ole Miss	W 85–48	27–2 (13–1)	21 – Edwards	10 – Okot	7 – R. Johnson	Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC
February 26, 2026 8:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	Missouri	W 112–71	28–2 (14–1)	26 – Okot	17 – Okot	7 – Latson	Colonial Life Arena (15,526) Columbia, SC
March 1, 2026 2:00 p.m., SECN+/ESPN+	No. 3	at No. 16 Kentucky	W 60–56	29–2 (15–1)	21 – Okot	13 – Okot	5 – R. Johnson	Memorial Coliseum (6,250) Lexington, KY
SEC Tournament
March 6, 2026 12:00 p.m., ESPN	(1) No. 3	vs. (9) No. 17 Kentucky Quarterfinals	W 87–64	30–2	21 – Edwards	13 – Okot	6 – Latson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, SC
March 7, 2026 4:30 p.m., ESPN2	(1) No. 3	vs. (4) No. 6 LSU Semifinals	W 83–77	31–2	22 – R. Johnson	13 – Okot	8 – R. Johnson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena Greenville, SC
March 8, 2026 3:00 p.m., ESPN	(1) No. 3	vs. (3) No. 4 Texas Championship	L 61–78	31–3	13 – Edwards	7 – Tournebize	4 – R. Johnson	Bon Secours Wellness Arena (13,567) Greenville, SC
NCAA Tournament
March 21, 2026* 1:00 p.m., ABC	(1 S4) No. 4	(16 S4) Southern First round						Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. Source:^[4]

Rankings

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
( ) = First-place votes
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Final
AP	2 (4)	2 (2)	2 (3)	2 (1)	3	3	3	3	3*	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4
Coaches	2 (3)	2 (2)	2 (3)	2 (2)	3	3	3	3	3	3	2	2	3	3	3	3	3	3	4	4

*AP did not release a week 8 poll.

References

^ Andrews, Kendra (April 25, 2025). "MiLaysia Fulwiley joining LSU after two years at South Carolina". ESPN. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
^ Ingemi, Marisa (April 30, 2025). "Cal women's basketball adds SEC transfers Sakima Walker, Mjracle Sheppard". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 15, 2025.
^ "Media tabs South Carolina as 2025 SEC women's basketball champion". SEC Sports. October 14, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.
^ "2025-26 Women's Basketball". gamecocksonline.com. Retrieved September 15, 2025.

[1] Andrews, Kendra (April 25, 2025). "MiLaysia Fulwiley joining LSU after two years at South Carolina". ESPN. Retrieved September 15, 2025.

[2] Ingemi, Marisa (April 30, 2025). "Cal women's basketball adds SEC transfers Sakima Walker, Mjracle Sheppard". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved September 15, 2025.

[3] "Media tabs South Carolina as 2025 SEC women's basketball champion". SEC Sports. October 14, 2024. Retrieved October 14, 2024.

[4] "2025-26 Women's Basketball". gamecocksonline.com. Retrieved September 15, 2025.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
Venues	Carolina Coliseum (1974–2002) Colonial Life Arena (2002–present)
Rivalries	Clemson
Culture & lore	History Cocky "The Fighting Gamecocks Lead the Way" The Freshies Garnet Army Full Court Press
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders Retired jerseys
Seasons	1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025–26
NCAA national championships in bold; NCAA Final Four appearances in italics

Previous season

Offseason

Departures

Incoming transfers

2025 recruiting class

Roster

Preseason

SEC Media Poll

Schedule and results

Rankings

See also

References