LOS ANGELES — Ahead of this weekend’s doubleheader of No. 6 Notre Dame at No. 3 USC and No. 1 South Carolina at No. 5 UCLA, all four coaches preached the importance of these games for the growth of women’s basketball. Scheduling marquee contests early in the season keeps the sport’s momentum flowing.
In the near term, however, the most important takeaway from blowout wins by the Fighting Irish and the Bruins wasn’t the enthusiasm college basketball generated in Los Angeles or even the amount of WNBA decision-makers on hand. Rather, the weekend served notice that the national title race in 2024-25 warrants a major reset.
It was only fair that the Gamecocks were the preseason favorites to win the national title. Despite the difficulty of repeating, they returned all but one rotation player from last season’s undefeated championship squad, and they have the talent, depth and institutional knowledge to win.
But after watching Notre Dame take down USC and UCLA deliver a convincing victory against South Carolina, the Irish and Bruins appear closer to achieving South Carolina’s 2023-24 formula than the defending champs themselves — a sentiment Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley felt after their loss.
“That was beautiful basketball by UCLA,” she said. “I’m on the…
