South Carolina women's basketball: SEC Championships by the numbers
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South Carolina clinched its eighth regular season SEC championship on Thursday night. It came almost ten years to the day after the Gamecocks’ first SEC championship.
On February 23, 2014, South Carolina beat Florida 69-55 behind 20 points from Tiffany Mitchell and a double-double from Alaina Coates. The win made South Carolina 13-1 in the SEC, but the Gamecocks needed help to clinch the title.
They retreated to the locker room where they watched the game between #15 Kentucky and #16 Texas A&M and got the help they needed. Arch-rival Kentucky, of all teams, delivered South Carolina its first league championship by knocking off Texas A&M 83-74.
Dawn Staley and Aleighsa Welch were summoned from the locker room celebration to come back to the media room and share their thoughts.
Four days later, then-commissioner Mike Slive visited Columbia to present South Carolina with its first SEC trophy. Staley confirmed the trophy was heavy, and then South Carolina beat Georgia 67-56 to clinch the title outright.
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In the decade since then, South Carolina has collected so many trophies that the process has become routine. There are no delayed press conferences, and trophy ceremonies are regarded as halfway points. It’s the ring ceremonies the next season everyone cares about.
South Carolina has won eight regular season titles, second only to Tennessee’s 18. South Carolina’s streak of eight in 11 seasons is a dominant stretch rivaled only by Tennessee’s ten in 12 seasons from 1993-2004 (both teams shared one title during their run).
South Carolina’s trophy case isn’t limited to regular-season hardware. The Gamecocks have won seven SEC Tournaments, second-most in league history, and haven’t finished lower than second-place in the SEC standings during this span.
Tiffany Mitchell and A’ja Wilson combined to win five consecutive league player of the year awards, the longest stretch by one program. Wilson became the first player to win the award three times.
Aliyah Boston joined them as player of the year twice, and won Defensive Player of the Year all four seasons. Staley has been named coach of the year six times.
During this stretch, South Carolina’s record is 336-40, with 10 losses coming in the 2018-19 season. South Carolina is 158-15 in the SEC.
South Carolina became the first SEC team other than Tennessee to win a national championship in 2017, and with the 2022 title, South Carolina and Tennessee (eight) are the only programs with multiple titles. Staley is the only black head coach in men’s or women’s basketball with multiple titles.
