Gamecocks Release Women's Basketball Non-Conference Slate

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina women’s basketball head coach Dawn Staley released her team’s 2021-22 non-conference schedule, which features seven regular-season home games, including reigning National Champion Stanford, NCAA Final Four participant UConn, Big Ten Champion Maryland and in-state rival Clemson. In all, the 13-game slate includes up to six games against 2021 NCAA Sweet 16 opponents and as many as nine against teams who played in either the 2021 NCAA Tournament or WNIT. Four of the up to six conference tournament champions on the schedule will visit Colonial Life Arena.
 
Following an exhibition game against Benedict at Colonial Life Arena on Mon., Nov. 1, the Gamecocks will officially open the 2021-22 season on the road at NC State on Tue., Nov. 9. It will be the first time South Carolina opens on the road since the 2018-19 season, and Staley’s team will look to avenge a 2020 loss against a Wolfpack squad that finished in the top 10 in both polls last season. The road trip continues with a visit to Sioux Falls, S.D., to take on Summit League Tournament champion South Dakota on Fri., Nov. 12.
 
South Carolina makes its regular-season Colonial Life Arena debut on Wed., Nov. 17, against in-state rival Clemson and Second-Team All-ACC guard Delicia Washington.
 
Ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, the Gamecocks will travel to Paradise Island, Bahamas, for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Nov. 20-22. In the inaugural women’s event, South Carolina opens against MAC Tournament semifinalist Buffalo. Day two of the tournament will see the Gamecocks take on either 2021 NCAA Sweet 16 participant Oregon or Oklahoma. The four possible opponents on the final day of competition include 2021 NCAA Tournament qualifiers UConn (Final Four), Syracuse (second round) and USF (second round) as well as Minnesota.
 
The first homestand of the season starts on Fri, Nov. 26, against Elon and continues on Mon., Nov. 29, against MEAC Regular-Season and Tournament Champion North Carolina A&T. South Carolina is in the Big 12/SEC Challenge for the second time in as many seasons and will host Kansas State, which features two-time All-Big 12 First-Team selection Ayoka Lee, on Fri., Dec. 3. Likely the first ranked opponent to visit Colonial Life Arena for the season will be Big Ten Regular-Season and Tournament Champion Maryland, which will close out the three-game homestand on Sun., Dec. 12, with all five of its 2021 All-Big Ten honorees in tow.
 
The Gamecocks travel to Duke for a Wed., Dec. 15, contest before returning home to wrap up their pre-holiday schedule against reigning National Champion Stanford, which returns 12 of its 13 players from last season, on Tue., Dec. 21, in a rematch of last season’s NCAA Final Four game.
 
As has become its annual tradition, South Carolina will step out of SEC play midway through that schedule to play UConn. This season’s game will be at Colonial Life Arena on Thu., Jan. 27.
 
Including its SEC schedule, the Gamecocks will play up to 13 games against teams that finished the 2020-21 season ranked in the top 25, including as many as eight against teams that advances to the 2021 NCAA Sweet 16. More than half of the season’s 29 scheduled games could come against 2021 NCAA Tournament opponents (eight in SEC play, up to eight non-conference).
 
Game times and television broadcast information for the 2021-22 schedule will be released at a later time.
 
Fans interested in buying season tickets for the Gamecocks’ 2021-22 season can find more information at https://thegamecockclub.com/wbb/ or by calling the South Carolina Athletics Ticket Office at 1-800-4SC-FANS (472-3267).
 
Continue to check GamecocksOnline.com and the team’s social media accounts (@GamecockWBB) for the most up-to-date information on the women’s basketball season.