Fresh off a historic new contract, South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has yet another thing to celebrate: being the preseason No. 1 team in the country in the AP poll.
The Gamecocks were picked narrowly ahead of UConn and defending national champion Stanford in the women's preseason top 25, which was released Tuesday ahead of the new season, which tips off Nov. 9. They earned 705 total points and 14 first-place votes, compared to 696 and 10 for UConn.
The sport returns many of the stars that shined on the biggest stage a season ago in the NCAA tournament.