“Dawn Staley got the belt today”: College hoops fans react after South Carolina tank vs Paige Bueckers and UConn

It wasn't the best game for Dawn Staley and the South Carolina Gamecocks, as they lost 87-58 to the UConn Huskies on Sunday, snapping their 71-game winning streak snapped at Colonial Life Arena.

The loss is South Carolina's second in three games after it lost 66-62 to No. 3 Texas on Feb. 9.

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After their undefeated season run to the national championship last year, the Gamecocks have lost three games this season. The 29-point loss to UConn was by the biggest margin, and fans on X gave it to Staley for South Carolina's shooting troubles and inefficient defense.

"Dawn Staley got the belt today," one fan wrote.

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"Dawn Staley could've stayed at Temple if she was going to take loses like this," another wrote.

One fan joked about the gaping hole in the South Carolina roster without a traditional big. Kamilla Cardoso filled that role last season, while Aliyah Boston was the center for the Gamecocks until 2023.

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"I’m always rockin with Dawn except for when she faces UCONN," one fan commented

Some fans pointed out the inefficient play by South Carolina's players against UConn.

"I will say this. I NEVER saw a Dawn Staley coached team play that bad. To be honest UCONN may have played their best game with this current lineup and SC their worst. However, that’s still no excuse for getting embarrassed like that in your house. Wow!," a fan wrote.

Meanwhile, one fan commented on the popular belief that beating South Carolina makes UConn a title contender.

"Now all of sudden UConn is the favorite to win the title after beating us lol, we must be the standard for real."

Dawn Staley comments on South Carolina's loss to UConn

After the loss to Texas, it looked like South Carolina had got its focus back after the 101-63 win over Florida on Thursday. That wasn't the case, though, as the Gamecocks fell once again.

Commenting on the team's performance during the postgame presser, Dawn Staley listed the reasons behind the loss.

"Transition, imbalance, bad shots will produce points for a UConn team," she said. "They just don’t allow you to get back in it to set your defense up. By the time you think about it, their three is going up and through the net."

The Gamecocks have four more games in the regular season, and Staley has promised to get her team back together before the tough postseason schedule begins in March.

About the author

Ruth is a College Sports writer at Sportskeeda with over two years of experience reporting for multiple publications. Ruth values thorough research while reporting and leaves nothing for assumption, emphasizing the ethics needed to write about the human aspect of a player. She is an expert in profiling and giving fans a peek into their favorite players outside of the sport.

Ruth has reported for The Covai Mail and worked for Anandha Vikatan as a press correspondent. She has a master's degree in English, which influenced her journey into writing, and her love for sports was mainly due to watching it while growing up. Ruth enjoys college sports as much as the NBA and NFL because of the dedicated fan-following college programs have.

The South Carolina Gamecocks are her favorite college program, and she considers them the definition of rising from the ashes. Their coach, Dawn Staley, is Ruth’s favorite coach of all time because of how she built the culture in the program and the camaraderie in her squad. Jared McCain and Angel Reese are her favorite players for being unapologetically themselves. Ruth also admires Caitlin Clark for being one of the best and yet staying humble and holding herself high.

Ruth likes to watch interior design shows on Netflix or travel vlogs on YouTube when not reporting. Her favorite College Sports moment of all time was when Angel Reese blocked a shot with an untied shoe in her hand.

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Edited by Bhargav