Dawn Staley Fires Back at UConn Fear Allegations
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South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley has shut down mounting speculation that the Gamecocks are avoiding the UConn Huskies in fear of facing star player Azzi Fudd.
After the two powerhouse programs failed to schedule a regular season matchup for the first time in over a decade, fans immediately began theorizing that Staley was running scared following UConn's dominant 82-59 championship victory last season.
But the Gamecock coach had other plans when addressing the accusations head-on.
"It is important. We've been accused of ducking and all of that crap," Staley said, emphasizing the absurdity of the speculation. "Like, come on, when we played UConn for the past, I don't know, 11 seasons. Now is the time to duck?"
"We've been accused of ducking and all of that crap. Come on. We've played UConn the past 11 seasons. Now is the time to duck?"#Gamecock HC Dawn Staley on the importance playing #UConn next season. The programs have played at least once in each of the last 11 seasons.… pic.twitter.com/4REgx82QGS
— Chaz R Frazier (@Chazf_tv) November 6, 2025
Is Dawn Staley Scared of Azzi Fudd and UConn?
The 23-point championship game demolition, in which Fudd scored 24 points and earned Most Outstanding Player honors.
South Carolina also lost a regular season matchup to UConn 87-58 earlier that season, giving fans ammunition to suggest Staley was actively avoiding another encounter with the Huskies' elite offense.
Staley quickly dismantled that narrative.
"We could have ducked seven, eight, nine years ago," she noted, referencing the numerous times South Carolina dominated the rivalry before last season's heartbreak.
The real reason had nothing to do with fear, according to Staley.
"It just so happened that they had more games scheduled in their conference, so it was hard to continue the home-and-home," she said.
The Big East's decision to revert to a 20-game, full round-robin conference schedule created a scheduling crunch that prevented the traditional rivalry matchup. With expanded conference obligations, UConn simply couldn't fit South Carolina into their regular season slate the way they had for the previous 11 years.
But Staley made clear the rivalry isn't dead. "We were gonna find a way to play," she said confidently.
The solution? Moving the matchup to next November during the Hall of Fame Women's Showcase at Mohegan Sun instead of their traditional February slot. The programs will also meet again the following year in the Ally Tipoff tournament in Charlotte.
"Unfortunately for us, it's in the Hall of Fame event," Staley noted about the slightly less ideal timing. "So it's great competition for us and for women's basketball."
The matchup represents a continuation of one of college hoops' most compelling rivalries, with UConn holding 11 victories in their 16 all-time meetings.
Jayesh Pagar is currently pursuing Sports Journalism from the London School of Journalism and brings four years of experience in sports media coverage. He has contributed extensively to NBA, WNBA, college basketball, and college football content.