South-Carolina
Dawn Staley confirms she would never leave South Carolina despite clause in new contract
Dawn Staley says a clause in her new contract means nothing about how long she’ll be at South Carolina.
Following Sunday’s win over Oklahoma, Staley addressed a section of her extension that she signed to end last week. The deal, which made her the highest-paid coach in the history of women’s basketball at approximately just over $25 million over five years, included a portion where she’d owe them nothing if she were to immediately leave for another job in the NBA or WNBA. When asked about it postgame yesterday, Staley had a little fun with the question.
“I don’t know. I might up and leave,” Staley joked.
In seriousness, Staley explained that everything within the contract, like that clause, was just part of the negotiation for both her and for South Carolina.
“Nah, I mean, you got to have something. It’s a give and take, you know,” said Staley. “Like, like, if, you know, there was – it was important for me to have a guaranteed contract. It’s important, you know. But, in having a guaranteed contract, you got to give them something, you know.”
Still, while she could leave Columbia at any time now because of it, Staley has no interest in doing so. She stated that she’d never leave their program for another college team. She also said, if she had wanted to go to the pros, she would have done so long before now.
“I will never leave here to go take another college job. It’s nothing. Like, I have the best of the best here,” Staley said. “And I really don’t have, um, any – like, I don’t have a passion for the next level. I don’t. I would’ve been gone. Like, seriously, like.”
Staley is in the middle of her 17th season with the Gamecocks with her having posted a winning percentage of .771, including a current record of 18-1. That resumé includes 630 total wins, sixteen conference titles, and a dozen straight berths in the NCAA Tournament with five appearances in the Final Four and three national titles.
With that, Staley is one of the best coaches, regardless of level and men’s or women’s, in basketball. She’ll keep coaching at South Carolina from here on, though, despite that wording in her extension.
“So, to have it in there was – it was just something fancy to have you ask me that question,” again laughed Staley.
SACRAMENTO, CA — No. 3 TCU took down No. 10 Virginia in the Sweet 16, preventing South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley from coaching against her college team in the Elite Eight of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
The No. 1 seeded Gamecocks (34-3) will play the No. 3 seeded Horned Frogs (32-5) on March 30 (9 p.m. ET, ESPN) in Golden 1 Center.
South Carolina beat No. 4 seed Oklahoma 94-68 in the Sweet 16 before TCU beat Virginia 79-69.
The only time these two teams met was in 2024 when South Carolina won 85-52.
Dawn Staley has only coached against TCU once
This will be somewhat of an unfamiliar matchup for Staley, who has only coached one game against TCU, and the 2024-25 roster was much different than what she’ll see on March 30.
Last year’s TCU team was powered by players like Hailey Van Lith and Sedona Prince. Now it’s Olivia Miles who is running the show.
Only one starter from last year’s team returned, and TCU added six transfer players.
Coach Mark Campbell is in his third season but has been to two of the last three NCAA Tournaments. Last year the Horned Frogs lost to Texas in the Elite Eight.
Olivia Miles is TCU’s star point guard
Olivia Miles transferred to TCU from Notre Dame in a shocking offseason move after Miles was projected as a top-5 WNBA draft pick.
The senior guard is averaging 19.4 points, 7.2 rebounds and 6.6 assists, coming off 28 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists in the Sweet 16.
She’s fifth in the nation in assists, 42nd in double-doubles with 12 total, and leads the nation in triple doubles with six.
Miles wasn’t healthy and didn’t play for Notre Dame against South Carolina in the 2023-24 season opener, so this is Staley’s first time scouting against one of the nation’s top ball handlers.
Marta Suarez, Clara Silva vs Joyce Edwards, Madina Okot
After fighting through Oklahoma’s post defense, South Carolina’s post players have a new challenge in TCU’s Marta Suarez. The 6-foot-3 Suarez is averaging 16.8 points and 7.4 rebounds, coming off 33 points and 10 rebounds in Sweet 16.
She’s tied with Miles with 12 double-doubles.
Clara Silva, 6-foot-7 center, is in her first season with TCU after one with Kentucky last year. Silva won’t be impacted by the SEC’s physicality given her freshman year experience and is averaging 9.3 points and 7.4 rebounds for TCU.
She didn’t score against South Carolina last year at Kentucky but had two assists and a steal in seven minutes of action.
TCU leads Big 12 in points allowed, rebounds and point differential
The Horned Frogs have the top defense in the Big 12, allowing an average of 55.9 points per game. They are also first in rebounds with 41.7 per game and in point differential at +21.4.
South Carolina vs TCU prediction in Elite Eight
South Carolina 84, TCU 72: This could be the closest game for South Carolina this tournament and will come down to execution. But despite almost three 100-point games, the Gamecocks say they still have room to grow with their best basketball left to play.
Raven Johnson vs Olivia Miles will be the main guard matchup, with Clara Silva vs Madina Okot at the center spot and Marta Suarez vs Joyce Edwards. So expect players like Tessa Johnson or Ta’Niya Latson to try to step up for Staley.
Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky@bylulukesin.bsky.social
South-Carolina
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina box score: Full stats from 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament game originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament continues with Sweet 16 action Saturday as No. 1 South Carolina and No. 4 Oklahoma battle for a spot in the Elite Eight.
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Another year, another Sweet 16 appearance for Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks, who are a serious championship contender. They’ll face the Sooners in a SEC conference matchup. The game between both squads resulted in one of South Carolina’s three losses this season.
Oklahoma won the overtime thriller 94-82 in Norman on January 23.
Here is a look at the box score from Saturday’s Sweet 16 Regional 4 in Sacramento.
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina March Madness box score
Oklahoma stats
|
NO |
Name |
POS |
MIN |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
OREB |
REB |
AST |
ST |
BLK |
TO |
PF |
PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
6 |
Sahara Williams |
F |
24 |
2-8 |
0-0 |
1-1 |
2 |
5 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
|
4 |
Caya Smith |
F |
7 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
3 |
Zya Vann |
G |
22 |
2-7 |
1-3 |
1-2 |
1 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
1 |
6 |
|
2 |
Aaliyah Chavez |
G |
30 |
7-18 |
3-9 |
2-2 |
0 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
2 |
19 |
|
21 |
Brooklyn Stewart |
F |
15 |
0-2 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
2 |
5 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
|
12 |
Payton Verhulst |
G |
29 |
4-11 |
2-4 |
0-0 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
10 |
|
22 |
Keziah Lofton |
G |
10 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
4 |
|
15 |
Raegan Beers |
C |
27 |
4-8 |
0-1 |
2-6 |
2 |
6 |
2 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
|
Total |
21-57 |
6-17 |
6-11 |
13 |
31 |
9 |
5 |
9 |
12 |
7 |
54 |
|||
|
36.8% |
35.3% |
54.5% |
||||||||||||
South Carolina stats
|
NO |
Name |
POS |
MIN |
FGM-A |
3PM-A |
FTM-A |
OREB |
REB |
AST |
ST |
BLK |
TO |
PF |
PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
8 |
Joyce Edwards |
F |
28 |
3-10 |
0-0 |
2-2 |
2 |
8 |
3 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
8 |
|
1 |
Maddy McDaniel |
G |
13 |
0-3 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
2 |
0 |
|
30 |
Maryam Dauda |
F |
3 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
31 |
Alicia Tournebize |
F |
8 |
1-4 |
0-1 |
0-0 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
3 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
5 |
Tessa Johnson |
G |
21 |
6-8 |
2-2 |
0-0 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
14 |
|
Ta’Niya Latson |
G |
26 |
6-10 |
3-3 |
6-6 |
0 |
1 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
21 |
|
|
11 |
Madina Okot |
C |
19 |
3-6 |
1-1 |
0-0 |
5 |
11 |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
7 |
|
44 |
Agot Makeer |
G |
21 |
3-8 |
1-2 |
1-1 |
1 |
2 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
8 |
|
25 |
Raven Johnson |
G |
25 |
8-11 |
2-3 |
0-0 |
1 |
2 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
18 |
|
Total |
30-60 |
9-13 |
9-9 |
12 |
35 |
18 |
7 |
5 |
8 |
12 |
78 |
|||
|
50.0% |
69.2% |
100.0% |
||||||||||||
As for the NCAA tournament, South Carolina has dominated so far, winning by 69 points against Southern before blowing out the USC Trojans by 40 in the Round of 32.
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Oklahoma has made a nice run in this year’s tournament as a No. 4 seed, beating Idaho by 30 before knocking off No. 5 Michigan State by six in the second round.
These two teams will give each other fits. The real question could be which team will final possession and will they capilitize?
What channel is Oklahoma vs. South Carolina on today?
Oklahoma vs. South Carolina How to Watch
Date: Saturday, March 28
Time: 5 p.m. ET
Golden 1 Center- Saramento, California
TV: ESPN (Available on FuboTV)
More college basketball news:
South-Carolina
Where to watch South Carolina vs. Oklahoma in March Madness Sweet 16: Time, TV Channel
March Madness is underway and college basketball’s big dance continues with No. 1 seed South Carolina taking on No. 4 seed Oklahoma in a Sweet 16 matchup on Saturday, March 28. Here’s everything you need to know to tune in for the clash between the Sooners and Gamecocks.
USA TODAY Sports has a team of journalists covering women’s March Madness to keep you up to date with every point scored, rebound grabbed and game won in the 68-team tournament.
USA TODAY Studio IX: Check out our women’s sports hub for in-depth analysis, commentary and more
What time is Oklahoma vs South Carolina Sweet 16 game?
No. 1 South Carolina vs No. 4 Oklahoma tips off at 5:00 PM (EST) on Saturday, March 28 from Golden 1 Center (Sacramento, California).
What channel is Oklahoma vs South Carolina Sweet 16 game?
No. 1 South Carolina vs No. 4 Oklahoma is airing live on ESPN.
How to stream Oklahoma vs South Carolina Sweet 16 game
No. 1 South Carolina vs No. 4 Oklahoma is available to stream on Fubo.
Watch the NCAA Tournament all March long with Fubo
Oklahoma March Madness results
- Round of 62: def No. 13 Idaho, 89-59
- Round of 32: def No. 5 Michigan State, 77-71
South Carolina March Madness results
Round of 32: def No. 9 USC, 101-61
Round of 62: def No. 16 Southern, 103-34
Women’s March Madness schedule today
See the schedule, live scores and results for all of Saturday’s NCAA Tournament action here.
2026 Women’s NCAA Tournament full schedule
- March 18-19: First Four
- March 20-21: First Round
- March 22-23: Second Round
- March 27-28: Sweet 16
- March 29-30: Elite 8
- April 3: Final Four
- April 5: National Championship
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