No. 1 South Carolina women's basketball welcomes College GameDay with conference matchup win
No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball hosted a sold-out crowd to Colonial Life Arena for its matchup with Georgia.
The sellout crowd accompanied ESPN’s College GameDay broadcasting its show courtside from the arena an hour before tipoff on Sunday.
The game marked the fourth sellout of the season for the Gamecocks, doubling the previous season’s high of two. It came against the second-to-last team in the SEC conference rankings.
“Anytime that the decision-makers of our game decide to bring College GameDay to a campus, I do think it’s worth it,” South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley said. “They know the crowd will be there.”
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The broadcast began at noon, and fans lined up in anticipation of the doors opening at 11:30 a.m.
“It means a lot, just knowing that we have like the best FAMs in the country, so just hearing them cheering us on even when we’re up and down,” freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley said. “It means a lot to us and it helps us play better as well.”
Fans filed in and watched as Elle Duncan, Andraya Carter, Carolyn Peck, Holly Rowe and Chiney Ogwumike previewed the game.
“To have the commentators, the analysts that call our games, it was star-studded,” Staley said.
Carolyn Peck kicked off the show holding South Carolina’s live mascot, Sir Big Spur. Staley joined the broadcast and praised her players for their undefeated season so far.
Staley also talked about the statue being built in her honor across from the State House. She noted it meant a lot for an African American woman to earn a monument where a confederate flag used to fly.
“My mom would be proud, as a South Carolinian, she would be super proud,” Staley said.
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In addition to interviewing Staley, GameDay touched on several other women’s basketball highlights. Iowa’s Caitlin Clark’s scoring record, Brittney Griner’s jersey retirement at Baylor and Sabrina Ionescu’s three-point shooting competition against Steph Curry were among the many.
There to witness the action were WNBA star Kelsey Plum and former South Carolina head football coach Steve Spurrier.
“Coach Spurrier calls me all the time, text messages me all the time,” Staley said. “He’s watched our program for a long time…Coach (Spurrier) has been one that I could I could talk to about how to coach in South Carolina because is not an easy thing to do.”
South Carolina’s 70-56 win over the Bulldogs set a new record of 43 consecutive SEC games won.
“It’s kind of a cool thing, that they chose to come to our gym, again,” Staley said about GameDay. “Maybe if we continue to have some success, they’ll come back next year.”
