South Carolina basketball has become the premier program in women's college basketball during the Dawn Staley era, and the team's fan support has played a role in helping Coach Staley and her team reach the heights they've reached.
Next Sunday, the Gamecocks will host the Georgia Bulldogs, and, according to a release from the University of South Carolina, the CLA will be sold out once again. The capacity crowd will be the fourth Sunday sellout in a row for Carolina as they also filled every seat against the Vanderbilt Commodores (January 28th), Ole Miss Rebels (February 4th), and UConn Huskies (upcoming on February 11th).
The undefeated Gamecocks will have two more regular season home games following the already sold-out games as USC will welcome the Alabama Crimson Tide and Tennessee Volunteers to town. Then, South Carolina basketball will have two home games in the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament.
South Carolina basketball fans are some of the most dedicated in the country. In fact, the Gamecocks have a very real chance of setting an all-time attendance record (both total and per game) if they fill up Colonial Life Arena the rest of the way this season.
The 1998-1999 Tennessee Lady Volunteers hold the current NCAA women's basketball record for average attendance (16,565), and the 2015-2016 Gamecocks hold the current record for total attendance (244,196). Both records are realistically within reach for USC this season.
Carolina's next test will be against the UConn Huskies on Sunday. The annual rivalry game is always one of the season's best-attended games (whether in South Carolina or in Connecticut), so it comes as no surprise that that game is a sellout. However, Carolina's four sellouts in the 2023-2024 season is an all-time program record since the team moved into Colonial Life Arena over twenty years ago.