# 2015–16 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2015–16 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2015–16 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks, led by eighth year head coach Dawn Staley, played their home games at the Colonial Life Arena and were members of the Southeastern Conference. They finished the season 33–2, 16–0 in SEC play to win the SEC regular season and the tournament championship to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA women's tournament. They defeated Jacksonville and Kansas State in the first and second rounds before getting upset by Syracuse in the sweet sixteen.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| 11/06/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Newberry | W 93–49 | | Colonial Life Arena Columbia, SC |
| Regular season ||||||
| 11/13/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | No. 6 Ohio State | W 88–80 | 1–0 | Colonial Life Arena (16,815) Columbia, SC |
| 11/15/2015* 3:00 pm | No. 2 | UNC Greensboro | W 91–44 | 2–0 | Colonial Life Arena (13,607) Columbia, SC |
| 11/18/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | at Clemson Rivalry | W 67–41 | 3–0 | Jervey Athletic Center (1,030) Clemson, SC |
| 11/22/2015* 4:00 pm, P12N | No. 2 | at UCLA | W 68–65 | 4–0 | Pauley Pavilion (2,018) Los Angeles, CA |
| 11/27/2015* 7:30 pm | No. 2 | vs. No. 16 Arizona State Rainbow Wahine Showdown | W 60–58 | 5–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 11/28/2015* 6:30 pm | No. 2 | vs. Cal State Bakersfield Rainbow Wahine Showdown | W 90–71 | 6–0 | Stan Sheriff Center Honolulu, HI |
| 11/29/2015* 10:00 pm | No. 2 | at Hawaiʻi Rainbow Wahine Showdown | W 67–51 | 7–0 | Stan Sheriff Center (2,073) Honolulu, HI |
| 12/06/2015* 2:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 14 Duke | W 66–55 | 8–0 | Colonial Life Arena (16,429) Columbia, SC |
| 12/13/2015* 2:00 pm, SECN | No. 2 | Winthrop | W 86–37 | 9–0 | Colonial Life Arena (13,409) Columbia, SC |
| 12/16/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Hampton | W 86–48 | 10–0 | Colonial Life Arena (12,117) Columbia, SC |
| 12/20/2015* 1:00 pm, ASN | No. 2 | vs. East Carolina Carolinas Challenge | W 89–57 | 11–0 | Myrtle Beach Convention Center Myrtle Beach, SC |
| 12/22/2015* 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Elon | W 78–63 | 12–0 | Colonial Life Arena (13,670) Columbia, SC |
| 01/03/2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 2 | Arkansas | W 85–32 | 13–0 (1–0) | Colonial Life Arena (13,407) Columbia, SC |
| 01/07/2016 9:00 pm, SECN | No. 2 | at Vanderbilt | W 71–61 | 14–0 (2–0) | Memorial Gymnasium (2,547) Nashville, TN |
| 01/10/2016 12:00 pm, SECN | No. 2 | No. 20 Missouri | W 83–58 | 15–0 (3–0) | Colonial Life Arena (15,934) Columbia, SC |
| 01/14/2016 7:00 pm, SECN | No. 2 | at No. 9 Kentucky | W 73–62 | 16–0 (4–0) | Memorial Coliseum (5,527) Lexington, KY |
| 01/17/2016 1:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 15 Texas A&M | W 59–58 | 17–0 (5–0) | Colonial Life Arena (15,406) Columbia, SC |
| 01/21/2016 7:00 pm | No. 2 | at Auburn | W 74–58 | 18–0 (6–0) | Auburn Arena (2,419) Auburn, AL |
| 01/24/2016 5:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | at No. 10 Mississippi State | W 57–51 | 19–0 (7–0) | Humphrey Coliseum (10,626) Starkville, MS |
| 01/28/2016 7:00 pm | No. 2 | Ole Miss | W 81–62 | 20–0 (8–0) | Colonial Life Arena (14,313) Columbia, SC |
| 01/31/2016 6:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 2 | at No. 10 Texas A&M | W 70–63 | 21–0 (9–0) | Reed Arena (8,511) College Station, TX |
| 02/04/2016 7:00 pm, SECN | No. 2 | No. 18 Kentucky | W 78–68 | 22–0 (10–0) | Colonial Life Arena (15,015) Columbia, SC |
| 02/08/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 2 | No. 1 Connecticut | L 54–66 | 22–1 | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) Columbia, SC |
| 02/11/2016 7:00 pm | No. 2 | No. 16 Florida | W 86–71 | 23–1 (11–0) | Colonial Life Arena (13,324) Columbia, SC |
| 02/15/2016 7:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 3 | at No. 24 Tennessee | W 62–56 | 24–1 (12–0) | Thompson–Boling Arena (12,014) Knoxville, TN |
| 02/18/2016 7:00 pm | No. 3 | Georgia | W 61–51 | 25–1 (13–0) | Colonial Life Arena (16,186) Columbia, SC |
| 02/22/2016 7:00 pm, SECN | No. 3 | at Alabama | W 66–46 | 26–1 (14–0) | Foster Auditorium (2,649) Tuscaloosa, AL |
| 02/25/2016 9:00 pm, SECN | No. 3 | at Ole Miss | W 66–45 | 27–1 (15–0) | The Pavilion at Ole Miss (1,473) Oxford, MS |
| 02/28/2016 2:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 3 | LSU | W 75–39 | 28–1 (16–0) | Colonial Life Arena (16,240) Columbia, SC |
| SEC Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/04/2016 12:00 pm, SECN | (1) No. 3 | vs. (9) Auburn Quarterfinals | W 57–48 | 29–1 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| 03/05/2016 3:00 pm, ESPNU | (1) No. 3 | vs. (5) No. 13 Kentucky Semifinals | W 93–63 | 30–1 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena Jacksonville, FL |
| 03/06/2016 2:30 pm, ESPN | (1) No. 3 | vs. (3) No. 16 Mississippi State Championship Game | W 66–52 | 31–1 | Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena (6,549) Jacksonville, FL |
| NCAA Women's Tournament ||||||
| 03/18/2016* 7:30 pm, ESPN2 | (1 SF) No. 3 | (16 SF) Jacksonville First Round | W 77–41 | 32–1 | Colonial Life Arena (10,276) Columbia, SC |
| 03/20/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (1 SF) No. 3 | (9 SF) Kansas State Second Round | W 73–47 | 33–1 | Colonial Life Arena (10,048) Columbia, SC |
| 03/25/2016* 7:00 pm, ESPN | (1 SF) No. 3 | vs. (4 SF) No. 14 Syracuse Sweet Sixteen | L 72–80 | 33–2 | Denny Sanford Premier Center (4,610) Sioux Falls, SD |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. SF=Sioux Falls Region. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||

## Rankings

Ranking Movement Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Wk 17 | Wk 18 | Wk 19 | Final |
| AP | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | N/A |
| Coaches | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 5 |