South Carolina’s new WBB schedule is complete. See all the games, dates

The defending national champion South Carolina women’s basketball team has released its full schedule for the 2024-25 season.

Although the vast majority of their games were already known, Monday’s announcement revealed two new matchups for coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks: A regular season home game against HBCU Coppin State on Nov. 14, and a home exhibition game against Clayton State on Oct. 28.

USC’s game at rival Clemson is also officially set for Wednesday Nov. 20.

Television channels and tipoff times for the majority of South Carolina’s games will be set in coming weeks as the season nears.

The Coppin State news comes roughly a month after Staley, who won her third national championship with South Carolina in April, took to X (formerly Twitter) to publicly ask other schools to contact her to set up games for the 2024-25.

Staley’s previously voiced frustrations about how it’s “really hard” for USC (38-0 last year) to set up non-conference games given the Gamecocks’ dominance.

USC, as previously announced, will play 16 conference games in the new-look SEC (eight at home, eight on the road). That includes home and away games vs. new league member Texas, a home game against rival LSU and a trip to Ole Miss.

In non-conference play, South Carolina is participating in a number of marquee events, including a season opener against Michigan in Las Vegas and dates with NC State in Charlotte and UConn in Columbia.

USC is already playing one exhibition game on the road at Memphis on Oct. 15. The Oct. 28 exhibition against Clayton State, a Georgia-based NCAA Division II team, gives the Gamecocks a chance to play at home in front of their fans in the preseason and comes one week before their season opener.

Maryland-based Coppin State — the other new addition to USC’s schedule — visits Nov. 14 in what will be South Carolina’s official home opener at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia.

The Gamecocks have historically been quite willing to play a tough non-conference schedule under Staley, and that’s reflected in this year’s schedule: Of USC’s first 10 non-conference games, eight are against Power 4 opponents and seven will be played at road or neutral site venues (Duke is the outlier).

After winning their third national title in seven years against Iowa in April, South Carolina debuted at No. 1 in ESPN’s “Way-Too-Early Top 25” for the 2024-25 season. USC returns all but one scholarship player (Kamilla Cardoso) from last year’s undefeated team, including All-SEC guards Te-Hina Paopao and Raven Johnson and star sophomores MiLaysia Fulwiley and Tessa Johnson.

South Carolina WBB 2024-25 schedule

As of Sept. 16 (finalized)

• Oct. 15: at Memphis, 9:30 p.m. (exhibition)

• Oct. 28: vs. Clayton State (exhibition)**

• Nov. 4: vs. Michigan in Las Vegas (Naismith Hall of Fame Series)

• Nov. 10: vs. NC State in Charlotte, 3 p.m. (Ally Tipoff)

• Nov. 14: vs. Coppin State**

• Nov. 17: vs. East Carolina

• Nov. 20: at Clemson

• Nov. 24: at UCLA

• Nov. 28: vs. Iowa State, 12 p.m. (Fort Myers Tipoff)

• Nov. 30: vs. Purdue, 11 a.m. (Fort Myers Tipoff)

• Dec. 5: vs. Duke (SEC-ACC Challenge)

• Dec. 8: at TCU, 7 p.m. (Hoopfest Women’s Basketball Classic)

• Dec. 15: vs. South Florida

• Dec. 19: vs. Charleston Southern

• Dec. 29: vs. Wofford

• Jan. 2: At Missouri

• Jan. 5: At Mississippi State

• Jan. 9: vs. Texas A&M

• Jan. 12: vs. Texas

• Jan. 16: at Alabama

• Jan. 19: vs. Oklahoma

• Jan. 23: vs. LSU

• Jan. 27: at Tennessee

• Feb. 2: vs. Auburn

• Feb. 6: at Georgia

• Feb. 9: at Texas

• Feb. 13: vs. Florida

• Feb. 16: vs. UConn

• Feb. 20: vs. Arkansas

• Feb. 23: at Vanderbilt

• Feb. 27: at Ole Miss

• March 2: vs. Kentucky

• March 5-9: SEC women’s basketball tournament in Greenville

** New additions to schedule