COLUMBIA, S.C. — Gamecock fans eagerly greeted the USC Women’s Basketball team at Colonial Life Arena on Monday. This is the team’s second national championship win at the NCAA tournament in the past five years.
All across the arena, you could hear fans doing the famous gamecocks chant.
“All of the games we’ve seen, I feel like we’re a part of the team, too,” fan Denzel Walls said. “Happy to be with the fans.”
For fan Jane Fulmer, she says she saw this season’s win coming.
“I predicted this last Wednesday that the Lady Gamecocks was gonna win over Louisville and play for the national championship and rematch the UConn Huskies and they did,” Fulmer said.
Fans Cheryl and Jim Ellison say they’ve been following the Gamecock women’s journey since their first championship win in 2017.
“It’s been quite the journey, and they stayed focused and did what they needed to do,” Cheryl said.
Jim is an alum of USC. “Some really good representatives of the university, team, especially Coach Staley, so I’m real proud,” he said.
During a speech, Coach Staley thanked university interim president Harris Pastides for his support of women’s sports. She also thanked their media relations team and the team’s practice squad.
Olivia Davis says she has been inspired watching Staley’s journey.
“It’s amazing for a female black head coach to get that type of recognition and the things that she’s doing for the university,” said Davis.
For USC freshman, this is their first championship win they’ve gotten as students.
“It’s super exciting. So we’re just glad that we’re here and we can experience it. It’s a very first year here. It’s super exciting. Very surreal,” said Audrey Mayfield.
The team says it is planning a celebration parade later this week. The time and place is yet to be decided.