South Carolina's Dawn Staley fourth coach with 3 straight title games after UConn win
South Carolina's Dawn Staley is the fourth NCAA women's basketball coach to lead her team to three consecutive national championship games.
In leading South Carolina women's basketball to the 2026 Women's NCAA Tournament national championship game, coach Dawn Staley has joined an elite group of coaches. The No. 1 seed Gamecocks (36-3) defeated No.
1 overall seed UConn (38-1) by a score of 62-48 in the Final Four at Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix on April 3. The win made Staley the fourth coach ever to steer her team to the national championship game three seasons in a row. South Carolina will face No.
1 seed UCLA (35-1) or No. 1 seed Texas (35-3) in the title game on April 5 (3:30 p. m.
ET). The Gamecocks are aiming for the fourth championship in program history. The other three coaches to lead their teams to three consecutive title games are Joe Ciampi, Pat Summitt and Geno Auriemma .