2014–15 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2014–15 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by seventh year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at the Colonial Life Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. The Gamecocks repeated as Southeastern Conference regular season Champions; however, it was shared with Tennessee this year. The 2014–15 Gamecocks won their first SEC Tournament Championship by beating Tennessee 62–46. USC received a #1 seed in the 2015 Women's NCAA Tournament where they advanced to the final four where they lost 66–65 to Notre Dame, as Tiffany Mitchell's desperation three in the final seconds came up short.

2014–15 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball
Junkanoo Jam Lucaya Division Champions SEC Regular Season co-champions SEC Tournament Champions NCAA Women's Tournament Greensboro Regional Champions
NCAA Women's Tournament, Final Four (lost to Notre Dame)
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 4
AP	No. 3
Record	34–3 (15–1 SEC)
Head coach	Dawn Staley (7th season)
Assistant coaches	Lisa Boyer Nikki McCray Darius Taylor
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena

2014–15 SEC women's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 3 South Carolina*†	15	–	1		.938			34	–	3		.919
No. 6 Tennessee	15	–	1		.938			30	–	6		.833
No. 12 Mississippi State	11	–	5		.688			27	–	7		.794
No. 11 Kentucky	10	–	6		.625			24	–	10		.706
No. 21 Texas A&M	10	–	6		.625			23	–	10		.697
LSU	10	–	6		.625			17	–	14		.548
Missouri	7	–	9		.438			19	–	14		.576
Ole Miss	7	–	9		.438			19	–	14		.576
Georgia	6	–	10		.375			19	–	12		.613
Arkansas	6	–	10		.375			18	–	14		.563
Vanderbilt	5	–	11		.313			15	–	16		.484
Florida	5	–	11		.313			13	–	17		.433
Auburn	3	–	13		.188			13	–	18		.419
Alabama	2	–	14		.125			13	–	19		.406
† 2015 SEC tournament winner Rankings from AP poll

Recruits

College recruiting information

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
A'ja Wilson F	Hopkins, SC	Heathwood Hall Episcopal School	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 98
Jatarie White P	Charlotte, NC	Providence Day School	6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 98
Kaydra Duckett G	Columbia, SC	Dreher	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 97
Bianca Cuevas PG	Bronx, NY	Nazareth Regional	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 97
Doniyah Cliney G	Newark, NJ	Malcolm X. Shabazz	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)	N/A
	Star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 90
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2014 Player Commits". ESPN.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.

Roster

2014–15 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Year Previous school Hometown G 0 India Farmer 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) So North Myrtle Beach North Myrtle Beach, S.C. G 1 Bianca Cuevas 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) Fr Nazareth Regional Bronx, N.Y. G 2 Olivia Gaines 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) Sr Louisburg College (N.C.) Chester, S.C. G 3 Kaydra Duckett 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Fr Dreher Columbia, S.C. G 4 Doniyah Cliney 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Fr Malcolm X Shabazz Newark, N.J. G 5 Khadijah Sessions 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) Jr Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach, S.C. G 15 Tiffany Davis 5 ft 7 in (1.7 m) RS So Westbury Christian Houston, Texas G/F 22 A'ja Wilson 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) Fr Heathwood Hall Hopkins, S.C. G 23 Tina Roy 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) RS Jr Kaplan Kaplan, La. F 24 Aleighsa Welch 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Sr Goose Creek Goose Creek, S.C. G 25 Tiffany Mitchell 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) Jr Providence Day Charlotte, N.C. G/F 31 Asia Dozier 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) Jr Spring Valley Columbia, S.C. C 33 Elem Ibiam 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Sr Fayette County Fayetteville, Ga. F 40 Jatarie White 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) Fr Providence Day Charlotte, N.C. C 41 Alaina Coates 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) So Dutch Fork Irmo, S.C.	Head coach Dawn Staley Assistant coach(es) Lisa Boyer Nikki McCray Darius Taylor Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2014-10-08

Schedule

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
Nov 2, 2014* 3:00 p.m.	No. 2	Coker	W 100–25	–	Colonial Life Arena (N/A) Columbia, SC
Non-conference Regular Season
Nov 15, 2014* 7:00 p.m.	No. 2	Southern California	W 70–61	1–0	Colonial Life Arena (10,057) Columbia, SC
Nov 20, 2014* 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 2	Clemson Battle of the Palmetto State	W 99–41	2–0	Colonial Life Arena (11,012) Columbia, SC
Nov 23, 2014* 3:00 p.m.	No. 2	San Diego State	W 89–38	3–0	Colonial Life Arena (10,301) Columbia, SC
Nov 27, 2014* 4:15 p.m.	No. 1	vs. Wisconsin Junkanoo Jam semifinals	W 67–44	4–0	St. George HS Gymnasium (167) Freeport, BAH
Nov 28, 2014* 8:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs. No. 22 Syracuse Junkanoo Jam Championship	W 67–63	5–0	St. George HS Gymnasium (342) Freeport, BAH
Dec 1, 2014* 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	North Carolina Central	W 90–26	6–0	Colonial Life Arena (8,823) Columbia, SC
Dec 4, 2014* 8:00 p.m., SECN	No. 1	Charlotte	W 82–61	7–0	Colonial Life Arena (9,629) Columbia, SC
Dec 7, 2014* 1:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 1	at No. 9 Duke	W 51–50	8–0	Cameron Indoor Stadium (6,004) Durham, NC
Dec 14, 2014* Noon	No. 1	Savannah State	W 111–49	9–0	Colonial Life Arena (9,605) Columbia, SC
Dec 17, 2014* 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	at Hampton	W 69–49	10–0	Hampton Convocation Center (4,000) Hampton, VA
Dec 20, 2014* 1:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs. Central Michigan Subway Classic	W 80–45	11–0	Williams Arena (N/A) Minneapolis, MN
Dec 21, 2014* 1:00 p.m.	No. 1	vs. Liberty Subway Classic	W 84–44	12–0	Williams Arena (N/A) Minneapolis, MN
SEC Regular Season
Jan 2, 2015 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 1	Auburn	W 77–58	13–0 (1–0)	Colonial Life Arena (16,465) Columbia, SC
Jan 4, 2015 3:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 1	at LSU	W 75–51	14–0 (2–0)	Maravich Center (3,438) Baton Rouge, LA
Jan 8, 2015 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	at Alabama	W 102–59	15–0 (3–0)	Foster Auditorium (2,454) Tuscaloosa, AL
Jan 11, 2015 1:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 1	No. 10 Kentucky	W 68–60	16–0 (4–0)	Colonial Life Arena (17,156) Columbia, SC
Jan 15, 2015 9:00 p.m., SECN	No. 1	at Missouri	W 60–49	17–0 (5–0)	Mizzou Arena (1,440) Columbia, SC
Jan 19, 2015 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 1	at Florida	W 77–42	18–0 (6–0)	O'Connell Center (1,503) Gainesville, FL
Jan 26, 2015 7:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 1	No. 12 Texas A&M	W 79–61	19–0 (7–0)	Colonial Life Arena (13,546) Columbia, SC
Jan 29, 2015 7:00 p.m.	No. 1	Alabama	W 85–54	20–0 (8–0)	Colonial Life Arena (11,927) Columbia, SC
Feb 1, 2015 4:30 p.m., ESPNU	No. 1	at Ole Miss	W 77–59	21–0 (9–0)	Tad Smith Coliseum (1,935) Oxford, MS
Feb 5, 2015 7:00 p.m., SECN	No. 1	at No. 22 Georgia	W 58–35	22–0 (10–0)	Stegeman Coliseum (4,896) Athens, GA
Feb 9, 2015* 8:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 1	at No. 2 Connecticut	L 62–87	22–1	Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, CT
Feb 12, 2015 7:00 p.m., FSN	No. 1	LSU	W 86–62	23–1 (11–0)	Colonial Life Arena (12,342) Columbia, SC
Feb 15, 2015 Noon, ESPNU	No. 1	Vanderbilt	W 89–59	24–1 (12–0)	Colonial Life Arena (15,255) Columbia, SC
Feb 19, 2015 9:00 p.m., SECN	No. 2	at Arkansas	W 73–56	25–1 (13–0)	Bud Walton Arena (1,531) Fayetteville, AR
Feb 23, 2015 9:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 2	No. 6 Tennessee	W 71–66	26–1 (14–0)	Colonial Life Arena (14,390) Columbia, SC
Feb 26, 2015 7:00 p.m., FSN	No. 2	No. 11 Mississippi State	W 69–50	27–1 (15–0)	Colonial Life Arena (15,047) Columbia, SC
Mar 1, 2015 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 2	at No. 13 Kentucky	L 56–67	27–2 (15–1)	Memorial Coliseum (7,560) Lexington, KY
SEC Tournament
Mar 6, 2015 1:00 p.m., SECN	No. 3	vs. Arkansas Quarterfinals	W 58–36	28–2	Verizon Arena (N/A) North Little Rock, AR
Mar 7, 2015 5:00 p.m., ESPNU	No. 3	vs. LSU Semifinals	W 74–54	29–2	Verizon Arena (N/A) North Little Rock, AR
Mar 8, 2015 3:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 5 Tennessee Championship Game	W 62–46	30–2	Verizon Arena (5,819) North Little Rock, AR
NCAA Women's Tournament
Mar 20, 2015* 5:00 p.m., ESPN2	No. 3	Savannah State First Round	W 81–48	31–2	Colonial Life Arena (10,644) Columbia, SC
Mar 22, 2015* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	Syracuse Second Round	W 97–68	32–2	Colonial Life Arena (10,485) Columbia, SC
Mar 27, 2015* 7:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 15 North Carolina Sweet Sixteen	W 67–65	33–2	Greensboro Coliseum (N/A) Greensboro, NC
Mar 29, 2015* 12:00 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 7 Florida State Elite Eight	W 80–74	34–2	Greensboro Coliseum (6,364) Greensboro, NC
Apr 5, 2015* 6:30 p.m., ESPN	No. 3	vs. No. 2 Notre Dame Final Four	L 65–66	34–3	Amalie Arena (19,730) Tampa, FL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.

Source

Rankings

Main article: 2014–15 NCAA Division I women's basketball rankings

Ranking Movement
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes.

Poll	Pre	Wk 2	Wk 3	Wk 4	Wk 5	Wk 6	Wk 7	Wk 8	Wk 9	Wk 10	Wk 11	Wk 12	Wk 13	Wk 14	Wk 15	Wk 16	Wk 17	Wk 18	Final
AP	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	3	3	3
Coaches	2	3	2	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	2	2	2	4	4	4

See also

2014–15 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team