Starting at No. 1: South Carolina atop women’s…

Starting at No. 1: South Carolina atop women’s basketball Top 25 for upcoming season

COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina's road to a repeat is quickly approaching.

The South Carolina women’s basketball opens the season as the unanimous No. 1 team in The Associated Press Top 25 that was released on Tuesday. The Gamecocks have been ranked preseason No. 1 for three consecutive seasons.

“This is where we wanted to be and envisioned for our program,” coach Dawn Staley told the AP. “I got to give it to our players. We constantly get some of the best players in the country. They put us in this position as they work extremely hard. I don’t know if they come in and say, ‘I want to be the No. 1 team in the country,’ but they do say they want to be national champions. This is a step to being a national champion.”

Stanford, Texas, Iowa and Tennessee are Nos. 2 through 5, respectively, in the preseason poll.

The Gamecocks never relinquished their top spot last year, and turned their No. 1 status into a national championship win. South Carolina also won the SEC regular-season title last year.

The Gamecocks lost two games last season, but none to opponents that entered those meetings as Top 25 teams. They posted an 11-0 record against ranked teams in 2021-22, while surrendering just 50.7 points per game.

South Carolina returns four of its five starters from its national championship run: Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Victaria Saxton.

Preseason SEC picks

The Gamecocks were picked by media to win the SEC in 2022-23, the league announced Tuesday.

Boston and Cooke were named to the Preseason All-SEC first team. Boston has made the All-SEC first team three times at South Carolina.

Boston was named the Preseason SEC Player of the Year. She was named SEC Player of the Year for the first time after last season.

2022-23 SEC preseason media poll

1. South Carolina

2. Tennessee

3. LSU

4. Arkansas

5. Ole Miss

6. Florida