DAWN STALEY

This week's Battle 4 Atlantis men's college basketball tournament in the Bahamas headlines the list of offshore events returning to the sport amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

South Carolina is the unanimous choice as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press women’s basketball poll.

Aliyah Boston had 22 points and 15 rebounds to help No. 1 South Carolina beat second-ranked UConn 73-57 to win the inaugural Battle 4 Atlantis tournament championship.

The release of The Associated Press women’s basketball poll will be delayed a day because of a Monday afternoon matchup between the top two teams.

Dawn Staley says while things are improving for for Black females coaches it is still rare for her to look across the sideline and see another woman of color leading the opposing team.

Destanni Henderson had 16 points off three 3-pointers and Zia Cooke added 13 points as No. 1 South Carolina pulled away in the second half for its 11th straight win over rival Clemson 76-45.

College athletes and recruits are now allowed to engage in "NIL activities" consistent with state law where their school is located.

The Associated Press preseason women's All-America team is out and Paige Bueckers of UConn is a unanimous choice.

South Carolina is ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press preseason women’s basketball poll for the second consecutive season.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley has received a seven-year contract worth $22.4 million.

Sue Bird capped off her unblemished 17-year Olympics run with a record fifth gold medal.

Sue Bird’s impressive 17-year Olympic journey will come to an end this weekend.

Breanna Stewart scored 20 of her 23 points in the first half to help the U.S. beat Australia 79-55 on Wednesday in the quarterfinals.

Breanna Stewart was at her best in Team USA's win over Australia, scoring 23 points.

There is definitely a UConn flavor to the women's basketball being played in the Tokyo Games.

The next challenge for the U.S. is rival Australia in the quarterfinals of the women's basketball tournament.

A’ja Wilson scored 22 points and Breanna Stewart added 17 to help the U.S. beat France 93-82.

The U.S. women’s basketball team isn’t clicking at the Tokyo Games the way the Americans would like.

The U.S. defeated Japan 86-69 in group play. It's a record 51st straight win for the top-ranked U.S. dating to the 1992 Games. The Americans are going for their 7th straight Olympic gold medal.

Nigeria assistant coach Ruthie Bolton could only watch and yell at the television in a Japanese hotel room as the Nigerians battled the U.S. women's basketball team.

Jennifer Gillom says everything is a process.

Dawn Staley says she doesn’t feel any added pressure being the first Black head coach of the U.S. women’s basketball Olympic team.

U.S. assistant Dan Hughes is not the face of the Olympic women's basketball team and he couldn't be happier in his role.

Both the U.S. Olympic team and the WNBA All-Stars expect a competitive game in the league’s showcase.

Marcellas Dial Sr. died on Tuesday. He was 42 years old.

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will try and become the first five-time Olympic gold medalists in women’s basketball as they lead the U.S. team during the Tokyo Games.

The last stop for USA Basketball before the Tokyo Olympics will be Las Vegas.

Michael Jordan will present Kobe Bryant for induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame next month.

Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford beat Arizona 54-53, giving the Cardinal and coach Tara VanDerveer their first national championship in 29 years.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – NCAA President Mark Emmert promised the Women's Basketball Coaches Association he will work with coaches to fix the “stark difference” between the Division I men's and women's tournaments. He asked Emmert what he could do to make sure those people give women's basketball the same advantages and opportunities. “Maybe that’s what has to happen in women’s basketball?” Auriemma said. "Maybe women’s basketball has got to separate itself from the other women’s sports? Yet for the women's Sweet 16 and Elite Eight, only “NCAA Women's Basketball” was in the middle of the court.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)Arizona has been having fun and playing good basketball, all the way to its first women's NCAA Final Four. The 11-time national champions are making their 13th consecutive Final Four appearance and 21st overall for coach Geno Auriemma. The Cardinal's first Final Four since 2017 is their 14th overall, trailing only to UConn and Tennessee's 18. The Wildcats hadn't even been in the women's NCAA Tournament since 2005, though they would have made it last year with a 24-7 record before the tourney was canceled because of the pandemic. Stanford is in its 34th consecutive women's NCAA Tournament, with Tara VanDerveer in her record 35th overall as a coach.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – One by one, South Carolina players walked through the confetti and climbed the ladder to cut down the net in the Alamodome. Zia Cooke scored 16 points and South Carolina used its stifling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas for a 62-34 victory Tuesday night. Top-seeded South Carolina blocked 14 shots, nine by Laeticia Amihere, and held No. “It says they're locked in,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. South Carolina answered with a 3-pointer from Henderson to start the Gamecocks on the run that would put the game away.

As of Saturday, there had been two confirmed positive tests at the women's tournament with over 15,400 administered. PAC-12 STRENGTHThe Pac-12 is showcasing its strength at the NCAA Tournament in both the men’s and women’s events. Six conference teams qualified for the women’s tournament: Stanford, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona, Washington State and UCLA. And it’s led to some mutual support: Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer has been texting Oregon State men’s coach Wayne Tinkle, among others. Night in and night out in the Pac-12, we’re playing teams like Stanford, UCLA, great teams, Oregon State, Oregon.

… Gonzaga is seeking to become the first team to make it to the Final Four unbeaten since Kentucky in 2015. 11 seed UCLA (21-9), East Region final, Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis. … UCLA is back in a regional final for the first time since earning three straight Final Four berths from 2006-08. 6 seed Texas (21-9), Hemisfair Region final, Alamodome, San Antonio. … Texas is in a regional final for the first time since 2016 and seeking its first Final Four appearance since 2003.

(AP Photo/Eric Gay)SAN ANTONIO – Zia Cooke and her South Carolina teammates were hot from the outside and rode that solid shooting to reach the Elite Eight. Cooke scored 17 points, hitting five of six 3-point attempts, to lead top-seed South Carolina to a 76-65 win over fifth-seeded Georgia Tech on Sunday and reach the Elite Eight. The South Carolina coach praised Fortner's positivity, which is something Georgia Tech needed when they hired her in 2019. Fortner provided that and had Georgia Tech reach its second-ever Sweet 16 in her second season. South Carolina built a 10-point lead before Georgia Tech scored the final six points of the half to only trail 39-35 at the break.

Dawn Staley criticizes NCAA over tournament disparities Dawn Staley, the head coach of South Carolina's women's basketball team, slammed the NCAA over the glaring inequalities between men's and women's college basketball teams. She sat down for an exclusive interview with CBSN contributor Antjuan Seawright to discuss her legacy of being an "odds beater."

It’s not just a weight room that’s a problem. “The men have everything in that weight room and we have yoga mats,” she said. NCAA Senior Vice President of women’s basketball Lynn Holzman said the governing body would try to quickly improve the equipment available at the women’s tournament. NCAA Senior Vice President of women's basketball Lynn Holzman revealed the numbers on a media call Thursday morning, but did not identify who tested positive. ___AP Sports Writers Jim Vertuno and Teresa Walker contributed to this reportAd___More AP women’s basketball: https://apnews.com/Womenscollegebasketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

The freshman guard has lived up to it so far, delivering record-breaking performances and earning a spot on The Associated Press women's basketball All-American team Wednesday. She's only the third freshman to make the AP team, joining Oklahoma's Courtney Paris and UConn's Maya Moore. “Name one player that has taken a team this young to where we are today," UConn coach Geno Auriemma said. She became the school's first women's basketball All-American last season. She was joined by Naz Hillmon, who is the first women's player at Michigan to earn All-America honors.

Aliyah Boston had 27 points and 10 rebounds to lead South Carolina, which only a week ago lost at No. South Carolina, though, righted things in a big way at the SEC Tournament. Boston then followed with a pair of foul shots and South Carolina held on for its 14th straight victory over Georgia. But when Jenna Staiti picked up her second foul at the end of the first quarter, South Carolina found Boston down low. South Carolina: It didn't take long for the Gamecocks to assert their dominance once more on the SEC.

3 Texas A&M to a 65-57 win over fifth-ranked South Carolina on Sunday to give the Aggies their first regular-season Southeastern Conference title. The Aggies outscored South Carolina (19-4, 14-2) 19-8 in the third quarter to take a commanding lead before the Gamecocks get back in it late. The Aggies added one free throw before Henderson’s 3-pointer cut the lead to 57-54 with five minutes to go. The Aggies added a basket after that before South Carolina got its first field goal of the second half on a layup by Lele Grissett a few seconds later. A 5-0 run by Texas A&M, with another 3 by Nixon, came next to make it 52-37 and spur South Carolina coach Dawn Staley to call a timeout.

(David Butler/Pool Photo via AP)UConn, South Carolina, Stanford and Louisville are in line for the top seeds of the women's NCAA Tournament. The women's basketball selection committee revealed the top 16 teams to this point Monday night. 1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll earlier in the day, would be the overall top seed. “I would say that for every line we had a healthy amount of debate,” NCAA women's basketball selection committee chair Nina King said. The two schools were joined by Arkansas, DePaul, Georgia Tech, Gonzaga, Missouri State, South Dakota State and Washington State.

1 in The Associated Press women's basketball poll, Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, for the first time this season after beating top-ranked South Carolina last week. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll. For the ninth consecutive season, the Huskies have reached the pinnacle of the women's AP Top 25, receiving 26 first-place votes from a 30-member national media panel Monday. 1 South Carolina in overtime a week ago in a 1-vs-2 matchup. Stanford and South Carolina have the next longest active streaks, at two years.

Connecticut guard Paige Bueckers (5) reacts after her three-point basket against South Carolina in overtime of an NCAA college basketball game in Storrs, Conn., Monday, Feb. 8, 2021. AdAliyah Boston had 17 points and 15 rebounds for South Carolina (15-2), which overcame a seven-point deficit in the fourth quarter. The loss ended a 12-game winning streak for South Carolina. Ad“We'll learn from it,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. UConn scored 19 points off of 21 South Carolina turnovers.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley confers with forward Aliyah Boston on the sideline during the second half of the team's NCAA college basketball game against Mississippi State in Starkville, Miss., Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021. 1 in The Associated Press women's college basketball poll. South Carolina, which originally fell from the top spot after losing to North Carolina State, beat the Huskies last season for the first time in eight tries. Here are other tidbits from the poll:MILESTONEMonday marked the 800th women's college basketball poll in the AP's history. Ad___More AP women's college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/womens-college-basketball and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25

San Antonio Spurs coach Gregg Popovich signals to players during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Denver Nuggets in San Antonio, Friday, Jan. 29, 2021. The Tokyo Games open July 23, one day after the NBA says is the last possible date for this season’s NBA Finals. AdSerbia will play host to the Dominican Republic, New Zealand, Puerto Rico, Italy and Senegal. Croatia will play host to Germany, Russia, Mexico, Tunisia and Brazil. And Canada will play host to Greece, China, Uruguay, Turkey and the Czech Republic.

LSU forward Awa Trasi (0) battles for a ball with South Carolina guard Destanni Henderson (3) and South Carolina forward Aliyah Boston (4) during an NCAA basketball game in Baton Rouge, La., Sunday, Jan. 24, 2021. “She scored enough, she rebounded the ball, she facilitated,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said of Boston. Awa Trasi's layup briefly widened the lead to 47-43 before South Carolina suddenly seized momentum with a 9-0 run. LSU: The physical presence of the 6-5 Aifuwa and 6-1 Trasi in the front court kept Boston from taking over the game early. TELLING STATISTICSThe Gamecocks wound up dominating in two key statistics, outscoring LSU 48-32 in the paint and 30-6 on fast breaks.

Trump turned to Bowers, a familiar figure in Republican legal circles, after other legal allies passed on the case. The first impeachment trial turned on charges that Trump improperly solicited Ukraine’s help for his reelection campaign. Pat McCrory and the South Carolina Election Commission in litigation over voter ID laws, as well as a former South Carolina sheriff who pleaded guilty to embezzlement and misconduct in office. In 2018, he was attorney for University of South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley in her successful defamation suit against Missouri’s athletics director. With degrees from the University of South Carolina and College of Charleston, Bowers graduated from Tulane University School of Law in 1998.

North Carolina State players celebrate with the coaching staff after an NCAA college basketball game against South Carolina Thursday, Dec. 3, 2020, in Columbia, S.C. (AP Photo/Sean Rayford)COLUMBIA, S.C. – North Carolina State coach Wes Moore channeled two-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Parcells after the Wolfpack’s landmark victory over No. “In my 21 years (coaching), I've never felt like I did during the game,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. But Zia Cooke's steal and layup drew South Carolina within a basket with 53.4 seconds to go. Expect North Carolina State, as long as they slip up in its next game Sunday, to move up in the rankings. UP NEXTNorth Carolina State: Hosts Coastal Carolina on Sunday.

FILE - These are 2019 and 2020 file photos showing, from left: Aliyah Boston, Dana Evans, Rhyne Howard, Aari McDonald and Michaela Onyenwere. She was joined on the five-person team by sophomore Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, who was also a unanimous pick. She was joined on the five-player team by sophomore Aliyah Boston of South Carolina, who was also a unanimous pick. Howard was first team while Boston, McDonald and Evans made second team. The AP started choosing a preseason All-America team before the 1994-95 season.

(AP Photo/Richard Shiro, File)NEW YORK – Dawn Staley already has accomplished so much at South Carolina. The Gamecocks received 29 of the 30 first-place votes in The Associated Press preseason women's Top 25 released Tuesday. Arizona was seventh, the first time since 2004 that the Wildcats have been ranked in the preseason poll. RESPECTING THE CATSNorthwestern was ranked in the preseason poll for the first time since 2015, coming in at No. It's the first time since 2015 that two mid-major teams were ranked in the preseason poll.

(AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)NORMAN, Okla. College athletes across the country added their voices to those calling for an end to racial injustice riday with football players and others marching on campus or stepping away from practices to protest the police shooting of Jacob Blake in Wisconsin. The problems out there are real, said Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley, who led the march and spoke at the event. This shouldnt be a troubling time for college-age persons.Members of the Baylor football team marched around campus Friday. The Ole Miss football team decided not to take to the practice field Friday after a similar demonstration a day earlier at Mississippi State. Football coach Jeremy Pruitt moved practice so his players could attend.

It remains the biggest jump at a single Olympics in the number of women competitors. Both wound up being two of the most popular sports at the Atlanta Games. On the other side of that curtain, the U.S. captured its first team gold medal in women's gymnastics with a group that became known as the Magnificent Seven. Then, for the gold medal game, I heard they were scalping tickets. You had some of the biggest, tallest women in the Olympics, and some of the shortest women in the Olympics going by each other.All of them stood tall in Atlanta.

The Latest on the effects of the coronavirus outbreak on sports around the world:___South Carolinas highest paid head coaches are taking 10% salary cuts amid the coronavirus pandemic. Football coach Will Muschamp, mens basketball coach Frank Martin and womens basketball coach Dawn Staley are taking the cuts. Football coach Chris Creighton, mens basketball coach Rob Murphy, and womens basketball coach Fred Castro will be affected by the 7% cuts. ___The German basketball league plans to finish its season next month in a closed three-week tournament. The Premier League season was suspended in March with United fifth in the standings.