No. 2 South Carolina shut down No. 5 Vanderbilt in Sunday's top-tier NCAA basketball clash, ending the Commodores' undefeated 2025/26 season by handing the Nashville visitors a 103-74 defeat.
Senior guard Ta'Niya Latson led South Carolina with 21 points, as five Gamecocks finished in the double-digits to offset Vanderbilt star sophomore Mikayla Blakes's 23-point night.
"I'm really impressed that we played connected basketball on both ends," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said following the bounce-back win. "I'm happy we responded to our [Thursday] loss."
The results could significantly impact the SEC standings, where No. 17 Tennessee currently sits in the lead — though six ranked conference opponents, including South Carolina, stand between the Vols and their regular-season finale vs. Vanderbilt.
"We didn't operate the way I know my team can operate," said Vanderbilt head coach Shea Ralph. "It doesn't get any easier.... This is the SEC."
"There just wasn't an answer today," Ralph continued. "There's a lot we can take from it, but it also doesn't negate the fact that we've been really good up to this point."
How to watch Vanderbilt, South Carolina in action this week
Both teams return to the NCAA court on Thursday, when the No. 5 Commodores will seek redemption against No. 18 Ole Miss at 7:30 PM ET before the No. 2 Gamecocks battle unranked Auburn at 9 PM ET.
Both matchups will air live on the SEC Network.
No. 3 South Carolina basketball suffered a blow this week, as top transfer Ta'Niya Latson exited the Gamecocks' 96-55 win over Providence with a lower leg injury on Sunday.
"She's smiling," South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said of Latson immediately following the game, offering an optimistic injury update. "She got treatment all through the second half."
The star senior guard, who turned 22 years old last Friday, joined South Carolina after leading Division I in scoring with Florida State last season.
This year, Latson's 16.9 points per game trails only sophomore forward Joyce Edwards's 21.4-point average on the Gamecocks' scoresheet.
While the full extent to Latson's injury and her potential time off the court is still unknown, any absence exacerbates the team's injury woes, as South Carolina lost standout forward Chloe Kitts to a season-ending injury before the 2025/26 campaign tipped off — with the Gamecocks battling additional availability limits throughout their roster all month.
That said, with the recent returns of forward Madina Okot and guard Agot Makeer from concussion protocol, the Gamecock bench is significantly less sparse, with both returnees impacting Sunday's South Carolina victory with a double-double.
Even more, Staley's squad will see additional roster relief when 18-year-old French center Alicia Tournebize joins the team midseason.
How to watch South Carolina basketball this week
The No. 3 Gamecocks will open the new year by tipping off their SEC slate on Thursday, when South Carolina hosts unranked Alabama at 2 PM ET.
The clash with the Crimson Tide will air live on SEC+.
The No. 5 LSU Tigers are gearing up for their first big test of the 2025/26 NCAA basketball season, opening conference play against fellow SEC powerhouse No. 11 Kentucky on Thursday.
"There's nothing else that I can learn about this team in a non-conference schedule," LSU head coach Kim Mulkey said following her squad's 109-41 win over Alabama State on Sunday. "What I'm gonna learn is gonna be through these games in the SEC."
Known in recent years for playing a weak non-conference schedule, the Tigers have nonetheless impressed so far, closing out their 14-game slate averaging a 55.4-point margin of victory while scoring more than 100 points in 11 matchups.
Senior guard Flau'jae Johnson and star South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley currently share LSU's scoring crown with 15.1 points per game, while senior Amiya Joyner tops the rebounds tally at 7.3 boards per game.
That said, LSU will need all their firepower when they host a Kentucky team hitting their stride under former Virginia Tech head coach Kenny Brooks.
Hokies transfer Clara Strack stars for the Wildcats, leading Kentucky in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks as the team enters SEC play with just one loss — to No. 7 Maryland — on their 2025/26 NCAA record.
How to watch Kentucky vs. LSU on Thursday
The No. 5 Tigers will tip off against the No. 11 Wildcats at 8 PM ET, with live coverage streaming on SEC Network+.
The SEC displayed its basketball dominance on Thursday's courts, as the conference won all four of the 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge Day 2 matchups to feature at least one Top 25 team.
No. 2 Texas handled No. 11 North Carolina 79-64 while No. 3 South Carolina and No. 13 Ole Miss survived nail-biters against No. 22 Louisville and No. 18 Notre Dame, respectively.
"I thought [our players] got out and made big plays for themselves in the fourth and building the five-point lead," said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley. "It was a turning point for us, whether we were going to succumb to losing the game or fight to get back in it."
No one had a better night than No. 5 LSU, however, as the Tigers faced their season's first Power Four opponent to a 93-77 result over unranked Duke, erasing a 14-point deficit behind six double-digit LSU scorers — led by 18 points from star guard Flau'jae Johnson.
"We scored 93 tonight, and look how poor we played in the first quarter. We were behind. Scoring the ball is not going to be a problem," said Tigers head coach Kim Mulkey. "Our problem is we have to just continue to get better on the defensive end and take care of the ball."
Across the 16 total 2025 ACC/SEC Challenge games, the SEC took 13 victories, with only unranked Syracuse, Virginia Tech, and SMU earning ACC wins — over Auburn, Florida, and Arkansas, respectively — this week.
How to watch Top 25 NCAA basketball this weekend
This weekend's NCAA docket sees the nonconference schedule cool down, with No. 16 USC hosting No. 21 Washington in the only ranked battle.
The Trojans and Huskies will tip off in LA at 8 PM ET on Sunday, with live coverage airing on the Big Ten Network.
South Carolina and USC are bringing fireworks to the 2025/26 NCAA basketball court this weekend, as the No. 2 Gamecocks take on the No. 8 Trojans in "The Real SC" showdown on Saturday.
Both standout programs enter the matchup undefeated in early-season play, with the Trojans touting a Top-10 win after narrowly edging out No. 10 NC State 69-68 last weekend.
"You don't know exactly what you have until you're put in these situations, which is why we schedule them," USC head coach Lindsay Gottlieb said about the upcoming clash. "And I think it's a chance for us to redefine our identity a little bit."
South Carolina's depth will likely test the new-look Trojans, as USC aims to solidify their identity with star JuJu Watkins sidelined with injury for the season.
That said, freshman Jazzy Davidson is giving the Trojans new life, with the No. 1 high school recruit co-leading the team in scoring with 17.5 points per game.
South Carolina, however, has seen early dividends from familiar faces, as sophomore Joyce Edwards leads the Gamecocks in scoring at 18.3 points per game, with high-profile transfer Ta'Niya Latson close behind with a 16.3 point average.
How to watch USC vs. South Carolina in the "The Real SC" NCAA game
No. 8 USC will welcome No. 2 South Carolina to LA's Crypto.com Arena for the inaugural "Real SC" game on Saturday.
The clash will tip off at 9 PM ET, with live coverage airing on FOX.
College basketball returns in less than two weeks, and the AP is gearing up for tip-off by dropping the 2025/26 preseason All-America First Team on Tuesday.
Reigning NCAA champion and last season's Freshman of the Year Sarah Strong made the preseason All-America Team cut, with the UConn Husky joined by Final Four participants Madison Booker (Texas) and Lauren Betts (UCLA) — the 2024/25 campaign's Naismith Defensive Player of the Year.
Rounding out the elite five-player lineup are Notre Dame guard Hannah Hidalgo and recent South Carolina transfer Ta'Niya Latson, who led Division I in scoring last season.
While the transfer portal produced a few major roster shakeups — including Latson leaving Florida State to join the 2023/24 NCAA champs — many of last season's top programs are picking up right where they left off.
"There isn't a day that goes by that one of the coaches and I don't look at each other and go, 'Man, there's just something about her right now,'" UConn head coach Geno Auriemma said of Strong.
Auriemma's reigning champs had some additional good news this week, with third-ranked 2026 recruit Olivia Vukosa, a 6-foot-4 center currently competing at the same Queens, New York, high school that produced basketball legends Sue Bird and Tina Charles, officially committing to UConn on Tuesday.
Ultimately, continuity could be the difference maker in the upcoming 2025/26 NCAA season, as known talents and newcomers alike look to prove themselves on the collegiate court.
South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley will be taking her talents to CBS Sports, with the network announcing Wednesday that the basketball legend will headline a new WNBA pregame show premiering this weekend.
Hosted by sports reporter Sarah Kustok, WNBA Tip Off will feature both the decorated South Carolina boss and fellow former WNBA star Renee Montgomery as analysts.
In addition to her lengthy playing and coaching resume, Staley will bring specific insight into particular athletes during these broadcasts, with nine of the icon's former players — from reigning three-time MVP A'ja Wilson to 2023 Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston — competing in the WNBA this season.
Staley's involvement also spotlights CBS's commitment to live WNBA broadcasts, with the network scheduling WNBA Tip Off slots for four of the network's eight regular-season league games.
WNBA Tip Off will debut at 7:30 PM ET this Saturday, serving as the lead-in to the Sky's primetime matchup against regional rival Indiana Fever — the first WNBA game ever set inside Chicago's United Center and the first-ever primetime WNBA regular-season game on broadcast television.
The other three games featuring Staley and her new CBS pre-game crew will be the July 12th clash between 2025 expansion side Golden State Valkyries and the Las Vegas Aces, a second Fever vs. Sky matchup on August 9th, and a 2024 WNBA Finals rematch between the reigning champion New York Liberty and runners-up Minnesota Lynx on August 16th.
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 NCAA basketball transfer portal window officially closes on Wednesday, after an active period saw top players unafraid to jump ship — even if that means joining a rival team.
After the portal window shuts, athletes can no longer declare their intention to transfer, though there's no official deadline for accepting admission to a new school.
Former UCLA rising senior Londynn Jones is the latest to switch sides, taking her 35.1% three-point shooting to the Bruins’ fiercest Big Ten competition by committing to crosstown rival USC on Tuesday.
The SEC — arguably the sport's powerhouse conference — has also seen significant movement in recent weeks, with Ole Miss landing ex-Ohio State standout Cotie McMahon and ex-Mississippi State guard Denim DeShields — WNBA veteran Diamond DeShields’s little sister.
Maryland is also cleaning up, signing ex-Duke star guard Oluchi Okananwa and Indiana center Yarden Garzon to the Terps' 2025/26 roster.
Meanwhile, 2025 national championship runner-up South Carolina added former Mississippi State big Madina Okot on Monday, after securing ex-Florida State guard and Division I's 2024/25 scoring leader Ta’Niya Latson earlier this month.
Another transfer portal superstar considers a jump
As the stars begin to settle, all eyes are on South Carolina transfer MiLaysia Fulwiley as she weighs her options ahead of her junior year.
Like UCLA-to-USC transfer Jones, the Columbia, South Carolina, product could opt to go the rival route, with rumors of Fulwiley seriously eyeing SEC foe LSU currently making the rounds.
All in all, while the player pool will be finalized on Wednesday, it could take days, weeks, or months to round out NCAA basketball rosters, as teams continue courting athletes in the portal before the 2025/26 season tips off.
Two of the biggest names in NCAA basketball revealed their transfer portal decisions on Tuesday, as student-athletes continue to weigh their options ahead of the April 23rd deadline.
Prospective top 2025 WNBA Draft pick Olivia Miles will instead play out her final year of collegiate eligibility at TCU, making the leap to the team that knocked her Notre Dame squad out of this season’s national tournament.
"I just want to be a pro without being a pro," Miles told TNT. "Every day on campus I want to be the way a pro would be, so I'm prepared when I do actually go to the league."
Similarly, Division I's 2024/25 leading scorer Ta'Niyah Latson announced her departure from Florida State to join 2025 NCAA runners-up South Carolina on Tuesday.
Latson already has connections in the Gamecock locker room, having played high school ball with South Carolina guard Raven Johnson — a draft-eligible junior who recently hinted she’ll be sticking around for one more NCAA season.
Strong teams prevail as NCAA transfer portal continues
As strong teams like South Carolina and TCU grew stronger this week, talent drain affected other top squads, including 2025 Final Four contender UCLA.
The Bruins saw three highly touted freshmen enter the transfer portal this week, with Elina Aarnisalo, Kendall Dudley, and Avary Cain seeking fresh starts to their sophomore years.
The talented young trio are likely seeking increased playing time, as the Bruins will return most of their 2024/25 starters next season, all while adding top recruit Sienna Betts — the younger sister of Naismith Defensive Player of the Year Lauren Betts — to the mix.
All in all, college basketball’s new era can be dizzying but, while the portal's carousel is far from done spinning, the 2025/26 field is starting to take shape as players make their transfer announcements.