Where South Carolina women's basketball, Dawn Staley finished in polls after national championship loss

[ASFN Admin]

South Carolina women's basketball finished No. 2 in the USA TODAY coaches poll and AP poll after losing in the national championship game.

The No. 1 seeded Gamecocks fell 82-59 to No. 2 seed UConn on Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. It was their first time losing in the championship game and second time losing to UConn (37-3) this season.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley entered Saturday's game 3-0 in national championships after winning titles in 2017, 2022 and last season. Yet, South Carolina (35-3) was thoroughly dominated by UConn, a team who won its 12th national title and finished No. 1 in both polls.

Seven other SEC teams made the final USA TODAY coaches poll: Texas (No. 4), LSU (8), Oklahoma (11), Kentucky (13), Tennessee (16), Ole Miss (20) and Alabama (21).

USA TODAY coaches poll​

1. UConn (775 points, 31 first place votes)
2. South Carolina (743)
3. UCLA (697)
4. Texas (691)
5. Southern California (629)
6. TCU (612)
7. Duke (590)
8. LSU (547)
9. North Dame (517)
10. NC State (508)
11. Oklahoma (456)
12. North Carolina (405)
13. Kentucky (368)
14. Maryland (362)
15. Kansas State (320)
16. Tennessee (306)
17. Ohio State (298)
18. Baylor (248)
19. West Virginia (230)
20. Ole Miss (195)
21. Alabama (152)
22. Oklahoma State (115)
23. South Dakota State (105)
24. Florida State (82)
25. Creighton (46)

AP Top 25​

1. UConn (775 points, 31 first place votes)
2. South Carolina (744)
3. UCLA (701)
4. Texas (686)
5. Southern California (635)
6. TCU (595)
7. Duke (608)
8. LSU (575)
9. NC State (517)
10. Notre Dame (478)
11. Oklahoma (434)
12. Maryland (412)
13. Kansas State (391)
14. North Carolina (387)
15. Tennessee (344)
16. Kentucky (290)
17. Ole Miss (272)
18. Baylor (229)
19. Ohio State (216)
20. Alabama (199)
21. West Virginia (186)
22. Florida State (103)
23. South Dakota State (66)
24. Oklahoma State (40)
25. Michigan (37)

Derrian Carter covers Clemson athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email him at [email protected] and follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DerrianCarter00

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina, Dawn Staley ranking in polls after UConn loss

Continue reading...