Dawn Staley Fires Back at UConn 'Ducking' Allegations
The No. 2-ranked South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team continues its 2025-26 NCAA regular season against Bowling Green on November 7, after starting the season with a 94-54 win over Grand Canyon on November 3.
There is a lot of intrigue about how Dawn Staley's squad will fare this season. They've already been dealt a good deal of adversity, given that both Chloe Kitts and Ashlyn Watkins are missing the entire season as they heal from torn ACL injuries. Not to mention that MiLaysia Fulwiley transferred out of South Carolina and joined LSU, which is one of the Gamecocks' biggest rivals.
That's not to say the Gamecocks are short on firepower. They added Ta'Niya Latson via the transfer portal from Florida State, who was the country's top scorer during the 2024-25 regular season. And returners Tessa Johnson, Joyce Edwards, and Raven Johnson should still be able to make a major impact.
While the Gamecocks should breeze past Bowling Green, the question is whether South Carolina has enough talent and depth to compete with the nation's other top teams; most notably the UConn Huskies, who dominated Dawn Staley's team during the 2025 NCAA championship game.
Usually, UConn and South Carolina would meet in the regular season at some point, in what's often a litmus test for both squads to compare their respective forms at that point in the year. However, that's not the case this season, as Geno Auriemma and Dawn Staley aren't scheduled to play each other.
Dawn Staley Sets Record Straight on UConn ‘Ducking’ Claims
It seems that Dawn Staley has caught some flak about not having UConn on her team's schedule this season, which she addressed in a blunt way when speaking with the media on November 6.
"We've been accused of ducking, and all of that crap. Come on. We've played UConn for the past, I don't know, 11 seasons. Now is the time to duck?" Staley said, per an X post from Chaz R. Frazier.
"We could have ducked [UConn] seven, eight, nine years ago. No, it's just so happened that [UConn] got more games scheduled in their conference, so it was hard to continue the home-and-home. But we were gonna find a way to play," Staley continued. "[South Carolina vs. UConn] is a great competition for us, and for women's basketball."
"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
News broke on November 5 that UConn and South Carolina will play each other on November 24, 2026. However, there seems to be a good chance that they'll match up against each other during this season's NCAA tournament if both teams can live up to expectations.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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