SHOCKER: UCLA Hands Dawn Staley And South Carolina Lose For The First Time In 43 Games

They say all good things must come to an end, and the South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team learned that the hard way this afternoon.

Just in case you haven’t watched women’s college basketball for any reason besides Caitlin Clark (for which I don’t blame you), I’ll let you in on a little secret: South Carolina is excellent. Dawn Staley - despite being a woke turd blossom that would be fine with men playing in women’s sports - has built a powerhouse in Columbia. In fact, last year, they handed Clark a fat L in the natty to close out her college career.

On Sunday, Dawn Staley experienced something for the first time in over a year and a half - a loss. (Photo by Joe Scarnici/Getty Images)

Heading into Sunday’s matchup with UCLA, South Carolina had not lost in 43 straight games - dating back to April 2023. Even though the Bruins were hosting, that wasn’t  a big deal, since South Carolina had won 33 straight road games heading into this one (the third-longest streak ever).

But to everyone’s surprise, both those streaks ended today - and it wasn’t close.

For the first time in school history, UCLA beat a No. 1-ranked team, this time by a score of 77-62 (it had been 0-20 in previous tries). Londynn Jones scored 15 points (going five for five from downtown) as the Bruins stormed to a monumental win.

"We really believed we would win…We prepared really well, and we executed the heck out fo the scouting report," coach Cori Close said after the game.

The loss - while shocking - isn’t wildly detrimental to the Gamecocks. They now sit at 5-1 and are still front-runners to repeat as national champions next year. 

But still, the loss has to sting a little bit given all that context. On the bright side, it's another opportunity for South Carolina to start a new winning streak.