The city of Columbia, South Carolina, honored South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley with her very own statue this week, reflecting the three-time national champion leader's legacy as a change-maker in women's college basketball.
The 14-foot bronze likeness, which sits just next to the university's alumni center, reflects Staley's championship prowess, with the statue showing the coach on a ladder holding a cut-down basketball net.
"This statue is a tribute, but it really doesn't encompass what she's delivered for us as a community, what she's done for women’s sports, what she's done for young people, especially young women,” Columbia mayor Daniel Rickenmann told reporters before Wednesday's ceremony.
A legendary coaching resume
After her decorated pro career, the six-time WNBA All-Star and three-time Olympic gold medalist took over the South Carolina coaching job in 2008, building the program into the behemoth it is today.
To date, Staley has led the Gamecocks to nine SEC regular-season titles and nine conference tournament crowns as well as seven Final Fours — including appearances in the last five NCAA tournament semifinals.
The four-time National Coach of the Year is far from done, though.
Staley, who turns 55 years old on Sunday, inked a contract in January to remain with South Carolina through the 2029/30 NCAA season.
That blockbuster deal — worth over $25 million — makes her the highest paid women's college basketball coach in history.
Staley agreed to statue to increase representation
Staley's statue now joins one of former star player and now reigning three-time WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, who saw her own likeness installed outside Colonial Life Arena in 2021.
Though initially opposed to becoming a bronze sculpture, Staley later acquiesced to the honor in order to boost the currently low numbers of US statues depicting women, particularly Black women.
"I agreed to the statue not for me, but for the girl who will walk by one day and wonder who I was," Staley said at the Wednesday unveiling. "Maybe she'll look me up. She'll see that I did some things in basketball, of course — but I hope she sees much more."
"I hope she sees that I was a champion for equity and equality. That in my own way, I pushed for change... not as someone perfect or extraordinary, but as a regular girl who used her gifts to open doors so other girls wouldn't have to knock as hard."
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame announced this year’s inductees on Saturday, with WNBA legends Sue Bird, Sylvia Fowles, and Maya Moore headlining a star-studded Class of 2025.
The Hall of Fame mandates a two-year post-retirement waiting period for eligibility, with both Bird and Fowles qualifying for the shortlist following their 2022 retirements from the WNBA.
Moore officially retired from the WNBA in early 2023, despite stepping away from professional basketball in 2018.
2025 Hall of Fame class highlights WNBA accolades
This year's class is the first to ever feature three WNBA players, proving the iconic trio's monumental contributions to the sport.
All three players won multiple Olympic gold medals with Team USA in addition to competing in at least three NCAA Final Fours, with UConn alums Bird and Moore counting two national championships among their accolades.
Moore is a four-time WNBA champion with the Minnesota Lynx, earning her last two titles with Fowles as her teammate, while Bird won four WNBA titles with the Seattle Storm.
Both Moore and Fowles have picked up WNBA MVP awards, while Bird retired as the league’s career assists leader.
How to attend the Hall of Fame's 2025 Enshrinement Weekend
The Naismith Hall of Fame’s 2025 Enshrinement Weekend tips off on September 5th, with both weekend packages and single event tickets currently available for purchase online.
The No. 2-seed UConn Huskies are atop college basketball once again, winning a record-extending 12th NCAA championship in a 82-59 blowout victory over No. 1-seed South Carolina on Sunday.
The title ends a nine-year drought for the dynasty program — the longest stretch without hoisting the trophy since the Huskies' first-ever national championship in 1995.
Trio of Huskies fuel UConn's championship grab
After dominating overall No. 1-seed UCLA 85-51 on Final Four Friday, UConn earned a season finale face-off against the defending champion Gamecocks, who punched their spot in Sunday's championship showdown by taking down No. 1-seed Texas 74-57 — South Carolina's third win over their SEC rival this season.
The big day, however, belonged to the Huskies, as UConn’s "Big Three" of star senior Paige Bueckers, standout guard Azzi Fudd, and freshman phenom Sarah Strong posted a combined 65 points to outscore South Carolina.
Fudd and Strong led the game's stat sheet by scoring 24 points each, helping Fudd snag the tournament's Most Outstanding Player honor — and earning Strong a new NCAA record.
After finishing March Madness with 114 total points across UConn's six-game run, the newly crowned 2024/25 Freshman of the Year broke the NCAA tournament's freshman scoring record, as Strong surpassed 2011 WNBA MVP Tamika Catchings, who posted 111 points in Tennessee's 1998 championship run.
As for graduating superstar Bueckers, her 17 points made her the Huskies' all-time NCAA tournament scoring leader, while Sunday's title cements her legacy, capping her college career by adding her name to the litany of UConn greats in the Storrs rafters.
"It's been a story of resilience, of gratitude, of overcoming adversity and just responding to life's challenges," said Bueckers after her last game as a Husky.
"This is one of the most emotional Final Fours and emotional national championships I've been a part of since that very first one," echoed head coach Geno Auriemma.
All in all, UConn overcame years of close calls, injury woes, and buzzer-beating heartbreak to restore their March Madness dynasty. With Fudd returning next season alongside Strong, the Huskies' future looks brighter than ever.
Final Four teams eye 2026 return
On the other side of the championship coin, the Gamecocks never quite hit their stride on Sunday, falling one game short of a back-to-back title after snagging a spot in their third championship game in four years.
"We lost to a very, very good basketball team," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said after the defeat. "They beat our ass, but they didn't make us like it. There's a difference."
Though Sunday’s loss stings, South Carolina's youthful core means the Gamecocks — like the young squads from Final Four teams UCLA and Texas — will be back, packing both March Madness experience and a hefty dose of vengeance next year.
"I hope they're crying," Staley said of her returning players. "I hope they're boo-hoo-ing because from crying they have emotion about losing, makes you work hard in the offseason."
It's a sentiment echoed by the 2024/25 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year, UCLA star Lauren Betts.
"We have the same team coming next year," Betts said of the Bruins' underclass core after Friday's Final Four loss. "I hope this fuels us, and I hope that we come out angry after this."
After faltering in their own Final Four matchup on Friday, Texas head coach Vic Schaefer offered a similar silver lining.
"It won't be easier tonight or tomorrow, but it will be easier knowing them three are around," Schaefer said of Longhorn underclassmen Madison Booker, Bree Hall, and Jordan Lee. "They are competitors. And again, they’re kids that invest in their craft."
The Final Four squads unable to seal the deal this season will rue an opportunity lost, but with another year of development, expect the same names to dominate the news cycle next March.
UConn might be the lowest seed left standing, but their championship pedigree looms largest of all, as the Huskies gear up to face No. 1 seed UCLA tonight in their quest to end a nine-year NCAA title drought.
“Before you even get here, you kind of know the pressures that exist by committing to UConn,” star guard Paige Bueckers said ahead of the Huskies’ 24th Final Four appearance. “It’s a decision you have to make even before you step on campus.”
Facing the Final Four with a healthy UConn roster
Reaching four of the last five tournament semifinals despite battling years of injury and availability concerns, UConn’s senior class is hell-bent on proving themselves once and for all on college basketball’s biggest stage.
This year’s run has benefitted greatly from backcourt duo Bueckers and Azzi Fudd, reunited in the postseason for the first time in over two years.
Freshman All-American Sarah Strong and key transfer Kaitlyn Chen round out the team's backbone.
"Sarah impacts the game in so many ways, that you just have so much confidence in her, so much belief in her," UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said of Strong. "I don't know. Can't explain it."
Paige Bueckers powers the Huskies offense
Already UConn’s third all-time leading scorer, Bueckers has been on a scoring tear en route to the Final Four, dropping 30 points in her last three outings as she gears up to enter the 2025 WNBA Draft.
“When I say unique, I think she’s closer to one or two or three of most unique players I’ve ever coached,” Auriemma said. “And I’m really going to miss her.”
This Huskies squad has navigated both long-term adversity and recent hurdles with skill and confidence. But will they be the team that gets UConn back on the trophy-winning track?
UCLA, UConn, Texas, and South Carolina have touched down in Tampa, each team laser-focused on tonight’s NCAA Final Four with a trip to Sunday’s national championship game on the line.
SEC titans Texas and South Carolina will square off for the fourth time this season, with the Longhorns looking to upset the reigning champs in their first Final Four appearance since 2003.
UCLA and UConn will later link up for the first time since 2023, with the Bruins fighting for a ticket to their first-ever championship game against a tournament-tested — but title-less — Huskies class.
Top-ranked teams square off in tonight's Final Four
Three of tonight’s teams entered the tournament as No. 1 seeds — Texas, South Carolina, and UCLA — while all four ranked among the AP’s Top 10 throughout the regular season.
“Not only is every team different in terms of their talent base and strengths and weaknesses, but their makeup internally is different,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said on Thursday.
“Whoever gets through this semifinal and final will have done it against the best of the best,” said Texas head coach Vic Schaefer. “We all understand it. It’s hard to do.”
"It’s going to come down to heart, effort, and controlling the things that we can control, which is attitude and effort,” echoed South Carolina senior Te-Hina PaoPao.
After a year of unparalleled parity at the top, there can still only be one winner — and whoever cuts the nets down on Sunday will surely be worthy.
How to watch the Women's Final Four and NCAA Championship this weekend
The Final Four tips off tonight at 7 PM ET on ESPN, with Sunday’s NCAA championship game starting at 3 PM ET on ABC.
When Texas takes on South Carolina this Friday, they’ll be playing for more than a shot at the NCAA tournament championship title.
That's because this year's Final Four is a rematch, marking the fourth meeting between the Longhorns and the reigning national champion Gamecocks this season. Now, Texas is looking for a little revenge against their top-ranked SEC rivals.
Longhorns head coach Vic Schaefer knows South Carolina well. It’s a competitive relationship that dates back to his time coaching Mississippi State, where he led the Bulldogs to the 2017 title game. And the story is strikingly similar.
“I think in '17, we played them three times also, before we played them in the Final Four,” Schaefer said after Monday’s Elite Eight win over TCU. “I think that was our fourth time when we played them in the national championship game.”
Staley got the best of Schaefer back then, with South Carolina defeating the Longhorns 67-55 on the way to their first-ever national championship. On Friday, Texas will attempt to flip the script against the 2024 champs, in hopes of securing the team’s first NCAA title in over 30 years.
“That's the thing about Dawn's teams, is that you know you're going to get the same from them that you try to impart on others, too,” Schaefer continued. “They're going to be tough.”
While this Texas squad has showcased their own toughness all season long, South Carolina has once again proven to be a formidable foe. The Gamecocks downed the Longhorns 67-50 in their first clash back in January. Subsequently, the loss served as a valuable lesson, lighting a fire under Texas that they’ve carried with them ever since.
“If you’re going to be a top team you have to beat a top team,” star sophomore Madison Booker told Just Women’s Sports ahead of the 2025 SEC tournament. “Reality hits you right there.”
“After that [game], we kind of figured we weren’t preparing right,” she continued. “We weren’t preparing like we want to win championships. We weren’t preparing like we want to beat top teams, or be a top team. So we had to change.”
That late January defeat launched Texas into a 16-game winning streak. They went on to finish out the regular season without dropping a single additional game.
Moving to the SEC puts Texas in a whole new league
Joining the SEC in 2024 after 28 years in the Big 12, the Longhorns have adapted smoothly. They’ve shown that they know what it takes to become a true title contender, building on two straight appearances in the Elite Eight to punch their ticket to the program’s first Final Four in two decades.
The conference move didn’t hurt, said Schaefer. The coach credited what he calls “a different league" for challenging his players to grow this season.
“I say it all the time, we jumped out of the frying pan and into the grease,” he said of the leap to the SEC. “It’s a different style, it’s certainly more physical. It’s a league that challenges you every night. You win on the road in this league, it’s like a win and a half.”
“This whole conference [season], I feel like people have been throwing some different stuff at me,” Booker emphasized on JWS podcast Sports are Fun! with Kelley O’Hara. “Box-and-one, face guarding, double- or triple-team. I think I’ve seen it all.”
Despite the competition, the Longhorns played to a 17-0 home record this year. Additionally, they gave up just one non-conference game to Notre Dame last December. Booker saw another excellent season, leading Texas in scoring on her way to winning SEC Player of the Year. And senior Rori Harmon’s return from injury gave Texas yet another boost, with the trusted point guard guiding Texas’s offense through difficult defensive sets with steady composure.
In early February, Texas settled the regular-season score with South Carolina, defeating the Gamecocks 66-62. And the win was bigger than the rivalry. It shot the Longhorns to the top of the AP Poll rankings. That boost saw Texas enter the SEC tournament as the country's No. 1 team.
And after ousting Ole Miss and LSU in the conference tournament’s first two rounds, there was only one team left to beat.
Texas basketball's bumpy road to the NCAA tournament
Texas reveled in wins as they came, whether it was going undefeated at home, winning a regular-season conference title, or progressing through the SEC tournament. But after each game, the same common refrain would emanate from the huddle: “What did Kobe say? JOB’S NOT FINISHED.”
“I think everyone understands what’s at stake here,” said Harmon ahead of Texas’s SEC conference final against South Carolina. “There’s definitely a chip on our shoulder. We need to get stuff done.”
Playing on their biggest stage yet, however, the Longhorns once again couldn’t hold off South Carolina. Eventually, they fell to the Gamecocks 64-45 in March's SEC championship. Rings aside, South Carolina had become Texas’s Achilles heel, with the SEC’s gold standard responsible for two-thirds of their losses going into March Madness.
Despite their late stumble, Texas still entered the NCAA tournament as a No. 1 seed. The Longhorns then became more interested in defining their season from that point on, rather than wallowing in opportunities lost.
“You’re talking about a six-game winning streak. To win a national championship, you gotta win six in a row,” Schaefer said, sizing up the road ahead.
Taking March Madness by storm
So far, Texas has held up their side of the bargain. They’ve battled through four NCAA tournament rounds, downing March Madness debutant William & Mary, No. 8 seed Illinois, and tricky Tennessee side. Finally, they toppled a determined TCU team to set up a fourth date with their SEC rival.
And they know full well that they’ll have to tackle this next game as if it was their last.
“It probably means a little bit more [this year], there’s seniors on the team, including me,” Harmon noted. “But this is the team that can do it.”
After turning a solid regular season into a breakout year, everyone in the Texas locker room is firmly on the same page. Intensity and poise got them to the Final Four. Now they’ll have to trust that process to get over the same hurdle that has haunted them throughout the season.
“There is so much on the line, but you've gotta just go play,” Schaefer said on Saturday. “That game is very difficult, and you gotta have kids that can just kinda block out all the distractions, and everything around 'em, and just go play the game.”
The message in the huddle remains the same, because despite all their accomplishments, the job is far from finished. And no one’s lost sight of the bigger picture.
“We're here for a reason,” Harmon said earlier this week. “We worked hard for a reason. Everything happens for a reason. And we put our faith into that.”
Watch more: 'Can Texas Make a Tourney Run?' on Just Women's Sports
UCLA will hit the court for their first-ever NCAA Final Four on Friday, but as they extend the most successful season in program history, the Bruins have looked anything but green.
“We said talent was going to be our floor,” UCLA head coach Cori Close said after Sunday’s Elite Eight win over LSU. “Our character, our chemistry, our habits were going to be our ceiling.”
With just two losses on the season, UCLA’s status as a first-rate NCAA title contender has actually been years in the making.
Roster-building paves the way to the Final Four
In 2022, the Bruins signed the No. 1 recruiting class in the country, stacking their roster with top high school standouts Gabriela Jaquez, Kiki Rice, and Londynn Jones.
UCLA then upped their game even further last year, when 2022 No. 1 overall recruit Lauren Betts transferred in from Stanford — a move that fueled the Bruins all the way to the Sweet 16 with the promise of even greater success.
“Everyone came to UCLA for this reason: to do something we haven't done in a really long time,” Jaquez said on Sunday. “[I’m] just really proud of my teammates, the staff, the coaches, just continuing to get better every day and grow from each season prior.
With Lauren Betts at center, UCLA leans on depth
As one of the most dominant post players in college basketball, Betts is at the literal center of every UCLA performance. But that doesn’t mean the Bruins lack the depth it takes to handle a team like Final Four opponent UConn.
“When we have a deep team, I don’t have to be in the game at all times,” Betts said. “I have a team full of players who are just amazing and talented in their own right, and they put in the work.”
All in all, UCLA is coming into their own after developing much of its squad from the ground-up. Now it's time to make the case that patient roster-building can pay off on NCAA basketball’s biggest stage.
As South Carolina women's basketball returns to the Final Four, the 2024 NCAA champions’ March Madness journey hasn’t exactly mirrored last year’s dominance. But their resilience has kept them very much in contention.
The Gamecocks bounced back from third-quarter deficits in their last two tournament games, relying on tight defense and smart positional rotations to wear opponents down.
“It is that type of year, that for us, there’s not any blowouts,” head coach Dawn Staley said after her team’s Elite Eight win over Duke. “We have to grind for every single win that we can get.”
South Carolina taps into depth after WNBA departures
After losing center Kamilla Cardoso to the 2024 WNBA Draft, the Gamecocks harnessed their depth, relying on strict minute restrictions to disrupt game flow and launch second-half runs.
Sophomore standout MiLaysia Fulwiley has popped off the bench, complementing leading scorer Joyce Edwards and inside show-runner Chloe Kitts.
One of the team’s key veteran leaders, senior Te-Hina PaoPao has been a grounding force as the only player averaging 25+ minutes per game.
Defense is key to Gamecocks victory
For the Gamecocks to become back-to-back champs, they’ll have to lean hard on their time-honored calling card: defense.
"Look, I mean, at this point it's not going to look pretty. Okay? It's not," Staley said after South Carolina narrowly escaped Sweet 16 opponent Duke. "There are stretches in each game that is not going to look pretty… Some of it's not going to look as smoothly as us coaches and players envision or how you practice, but you certainly have to get down and play the kind of game that's presented in front of you, and we'll do that."
“If we’re not scoring a whole lot of points, then we gotta up our defense,” she continued. “If we’re scoring a lot of points, we gotta up our defense.”
No. 1 seed Texas and No. 2 seed UConn punched their tickets to Tampa last night, joining No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina in the Final Four after two tight matchups closed out the NCAA tournament’s fourth round.
Texas got the best of in-state foe TCU 58-47, behind a game-high 18-point performance from SEC Player of the Year Madison Booker.
UConn then handled USC 78-64, holding off the JuJu Watkins-less Trojans as superstar guard Paige Bueckers followed up her career-high 40-point Sweet 16 performance by dropping 31 points on the night.
"We're just so grateful, but we know like the journey isn't done," Bueckers said after the game. "We want our story to continue as long as possible, and we have business to finish."
Texas books first Final Four appearance since 2003
After four Elite Eight appearances in five years, the Longhorns finally punched their ticket to the Final Four — their first time back since 2003 — behind a tenacious defense that forced 21 TCU turnovers.
“Anybody that watched that game today, when they turned the TV off, they had to go, ‘Wow, that freaking team plays their ass off,’” Texas head coach Vic Schaefer said after the game.
"I'm having fun with it now," Booker told reporters. "March Madness — you’re supposed to have fun."
"I’m so proud of myself and proud of my team to get to this moment," Harmon said after registering 13 points against TCU.
"Rori Harmon is still that girl," echoed Booker.
Bueckers leads UConn to the NCAA Final Four
The Huskies are headed to their fourth Final Four in the last five years. They advanced on a balanced scoring strategy that saw three different players put double-digit points on the board.
In addition to Bueckers’s 30-piece, freshman phenom Sarah Strong ran the frontcourt. Strong paired 22 points with 17 rebounds and four assists for her fifth postseason double-double. Additionally, Princeton transfer Kaitlyn Chen bolstered the backcourt with 15 points of her own.
"There's Disneyland, there's Disney World and then there's UConn World," Auriemma said. "These are fantasy numbers that make no sense. You couldn't predict this and you couldn't script this at all."
All four remaining teams have the potential to win a national championship. Now it’s a matter of who can deliver when the going gets tough.
No. 1 seeds UCLA and South Carolina prevailed on Sunday, punching their tickets to the Final Four and putting a bow on a wild NCAA tournament weekend that nonetheless ended in chalk.
After surviving a surging No. 4 seed Maryland offense 71-67 on Friday, the Gamecocks took down No. 2 seed Duke 54-50 in Sunday’s Elite Eight, building a watertight defense to silence the Blue Devils.
Coming off Friday’s strong 76-62 win over No. 5 seed Ole Miss, the Bruins went on to blank No. 3 seed LSU 72-65, holding off the Tigers despite All-American center Lauren Betts’s early foul trouble.
“The game was lost in the second quarter,” said LSU coach Kim Mulkey. “That’s where the game was lost. We didn’t capitalize on Betts being off the floor.”
South Carolina, UCLA bring different strengths to Final Four
With both teams having topped this season’s AP Poll rankings, UCLA and South Carolina pose different physical threats fueled by similar mental resilience.
The Gamecocks will make their fifth straight Final Four appearance. As such, the reigning champs are managing to keep the repeat dream alive despite some shaky starts.
“We know that every night is going to be a battle, and we know that they’re going to come for us,” said senior Te-Hina PaoPao.
On the flip side, next weekend will mark UCLA’s first-ever NCAA Final Four.
“All season we’ve talked about how our talent is our floor and our character is our ceiling,” guard Kiki Rice said. “And to just be the tougher team every single day out there on the court is really the difference.”
Subsequently, maintaining poise down the stretch could be the key to winning this year’s NCAA title.
How to watch Women's March Madness Final Four games
UCLA tips off the Final Four at 7 PM ET on Friday, April 4th, before South Carolina takes the court at 9:30 PM ET. Both games will air live across ESPN platforms.