PHOENIX — Dawn Staley has fond memories of her first trip as a coach to the championship game of the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament.
It ended with South Carolina’s first national title nine years ago.
Now she hopes UCLA’s first time playing for the same crown won’t end the same way for the Bruins (36-1), who face Staley’s Gamecocks (36-3) in the championship matchup Sunday at the Mortgage Matchup Center. Tipoff is set for 3:30 p.m., and ABC will televise the game with an alternate “Courtside Cast” available on ESPN and ESPNU.
“It’s special. I mean, it’s special,” said Staley, 55, who was the most outstanding player of the 1991 NCAA tournament as a Virginia junior despite the Cavaliers losing the title game to coach Pat Summitt’s Tennessee Lady Volunteers, 70-67 in overtime.
“You’re playing on the last day of college women’s basketball,” added Staley, now in her 18th season leading the Southeastern Conference’s Gamecocks after an eight-year run at Temple. “It’s a great honor and a great feat, whether you win or lose. You also are measuring where your program can continue to go. For us, 2017, we won it. I’m hoping that’s not the same for UCLA on Sunday.”