South Carolina women’s basketball had a light week on the schedule, but the Gamecocks made the most of it.
Playing just once over the past seven days, South Carolina rolled to a dominant 40-point victory over Penn State at Colonial Life Arena. Even with only eight available players, the Gamecocks showed little trouble, improving to 10-1 on the 2025–26 season.
After the exam-week win, the Associated Press released its Week 7 Top 25 poll, and South Carolina once again held firm at No. 3 in the national rankings. Dawn Staley’s team continues to sit behind No. 1 UConn and No. 2 Texas, mirroring the order from recent weeks.
For another week, the Gamecocks did not receive a first-place vote. UConn remained atop the poll with 24 first-place votes, while Texas followed at No. 2 with eight. South Carolina rounded out the top three.
South Carolina’s consistency in the rankings remains notable. The Gamecocks have not fallen below No. 7 in the AP poll at any point since the preseason rankings ahead of the 2019–20 season. That year, USC finished the season as the nation’s No. 1 team before the NCAA Tournament was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gamecocks’ current No. 3 ranking also places them second in the SEC, trailing only Texas. South Carolina is one of eight Southeastern Conference programs represented in this week’s Top 25.
The road ahead remains challenging. South Carolina’s 2025–26 schedule features games against 10 teams currently ranked in the AP poll. So far, the Gamecocks have defeated Southern Cal (No. 19) and Louisville (No. 16), while suffering their lone loss to Texas (No. 2).
Still ahead are matchups against Texas, Oklahoma (No. 8), Vanderbilt (No. 13), Tennessee (No. 17), LSU (No. 5), Ole Miss (No. 14), and Kentucky (No. 12). In SEC play, South Carolina will also face Alabama and Georgia, both of which are listed among teams receiving votes.
This week, the Gamecocks head to the Sunshine State for a pair of road games.
South Carolina will first travel to Tampa on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. matchup against South Florida. The game will air on ESPN2 and stream on the ESPN app. The two programs have met twice in the past three seasons, with the Gamecocks winning both contests, including a meeting in the 2022–23 NCAA Tournament.
On Saturday, USC will continue its Florida swing with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off against Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers. The game will not be televised but will be available to stream on ESPN+. South Carolina last faced FGCU during the 2012–13 Paradise Jam in the Virgin Islands, a game the Gamecocks won.
