COLUMBIA, SC- On the surface, South Carolina’s 101-43 beatdown of Western Carolina on Thursday night was just a regular case of a powerhouse defeating an inferior opponent. However, the victory had much more meaning that usual. When the final horn sounded, Dawn Staley found herself the winner of her 400th career game.
Staley began her coaching career in 2000 when she accepted the head coaching duties at Temple University in her native Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was her first coaching job of any kind. For the first six seasons at the helm of the Owls, Staley still played in the WNBA during the summers, somehow finding a way to be successful as both a coach and player simultaneously. She ended up coaching a total of eight seasons at Temple, amassing a 172-80 record, including six trips to the NCAA tournament. Her Owl team never finished lower than 3rd in the Atlantic 10.
Following the 2007-08 season, Staley accepted the head coaching position at South Carolina, a program that had only won 20 games total in the five seasons prior to her arrival. After two sub-.500 season, Staley lead the Gamecocks to the second round of the WNIT with an 18-15 record. After that season, starting in 2011-12, Staley’s Gamecocks have yet to win less than 25 games each season and have only failed to make it to at least the Sweet Sixteen one time. All of her success culminated in the school’s first ever National Championship last season, making her just the second African-American head coach to ever win it all.
South Carolina has won four straight SEC championships and was picked first by the coaches and media to win it again this season. The Gamecocks, with their win over Western Carolina, are now 7-1 on the season and ranked 5/6.