South Carolina’s three titles in seven years speak volumes of Dawn Staley’s remarkable tenure as coach

With her third national championship win, Dawn Staley has firmly established herself in the pantheon of the greatest NCAA women’s basketball coaches in history.

Caitlin Clark’s last dance in the NCAA dominated conversation ahead of Sunday’s women’s national championship game. Could the Iowa star cap off her historic time in college basketball with the final and so-far elusive accolade: a national title? But standing in the way of the unstoppable force that is Clark was the immovable object in the form of the South Carolina Gamecocks. Unbeaten throughout the season and obliterating all that came against them, Dawn Staley’s squad is the dominant team in the women’s game. And Sunday’s game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland, Ohio, was more proof of the juggernaut Staley has built in Columbia, with South Carolina vanquishing Clark and Iowa 87-75 to finish the season as undefeated NCAA national champions, the 10th team in women’s college basketball to achieve the feat. It’s the program’s third national title – all of which have come with Staley at the helm – and one which vaults the former six-time WNBA All-Star into the bracket of the legendary women’s college basketball coaches.