Generations of USC women's sports to be honored at South Carolina basketball game

There is arguably no bigger champion of women's sports than South Carolina basketball coach Dawn Staley. Now, her program will play a role in helping honor generations of female athletes.

On January 12, 2025, when the Gamecock women's basketball team plays against their new SEC rival Texas Longhorns, over 50 years of women's sports will be celebrated. The celebration will be bigger than just a pregame or halftime ceremony, though, as the University of South Carolina Athletics Department will use the event as a reunion for these players, as well.

The game against Texas will be one of the top home games of the year for Coach Staley's team as the Longhorns are one of two SEC teams with legitimate hopes of knocking off the Gamecocks at the top of the conference. There will be more announcements coming later that detail what the reunion will look like and how the January 12th celebration will be handled.

Four women's varsity sports have won team National Championships, and all of them have come in the last 50 years. The Gamecock Women's Track and Field team won the Outdoor Track and Field National Championship (2002), and Dawn Staley's South Carolina basketball program has become the best in the sport as they have won three titles (2016-2017, 2021-2022, 2023-2024); no other program has won two championships during that same stretch..

The South Carolina track and field program also has produced 14 indoor and 14 outdoor individual women's National Championships, and Allison Brennan of the South Carolina swimming and diving team won an individual National Championship in the 1-meter diving event. Though not a fully-sanctioned varsity sport, the elite USC women's equestrian team is worth mentioning as the Boo Major-led program won three NCEA Overall Championships (2005, 2007, 2015) and three Hunter Seat National Championships (2005, 2006, 2007).