The 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks were led by 14th-year head coach Dawn Staley and played their home games at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC. They competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 35–2, 15–1 in SEC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Arkansas and Ole Miss to advance to the championship of the SEC Tournament where they lost to Kentucky. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Greensboro region. They defeated Howard, Miami, North Carolina, Creighton and Louisville to advance to the championship game. There they defeated UConn for the team's second-ever national title.
Aliyah Boston won Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Dawn Staley was named Naismith Coach of the Year. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in both polls for the entire year. and finished ranked No. 1 in the AP, Coaches, NET, RPI, ELO, SOS and Massey rankings.
Previous season
The Gamecocks finished the season with a 26–5 overall record and a 14–2 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they reached the Final Four, losing to Stanford 66–65.
Offseason
2021 recruiting class
The Gamecocks signed the #1 class for 2021 according to ESPN. their second #1 class in three years.
Incoming transfers
Preseason
Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley enters her fourteenth year at South Carolina, fresh off winning an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning all six games as head coach of Team USA.
South Carolina was named AP preseason #1 for the second straight season, as they return every player from last years Final Four team, added the #1 recruiting class, adding four 5 star recruits, three of which were ranked in the top 5. They also added ACC Freshman of the year and former 5 star recruit 6'8 Kamillia Cardoso.
Award watch lists
Preseason All-American teams
First team
Aliyah Boston – C
SEC coaches poll
The SEC coaches selected the Gamecocks to finish in first place in the SEC.