2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team

The 2021–22 South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2021–22 NCAA Division I women's basketball season. The Gamecocks were led by 14th-year head coach Dawn Staley and played their home games at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC. They competed as members of the Southeastern Conference (SEC). They finished the season 35–2, 15–1 in SEC play to win the regular season championship. They defeated Arkansas and Ole Miss to advance to the championship of the SEC Tournament where they lost to Kentucky. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed in the Greensboro region. They defeated Howard, Miami, North Carolina, Creighton and Louisville to advance to the championship game. There they defeated UConn for the team's second-ever national title.

Aliyah Boston won Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year while head coach Dawn Staley was named Naismith Coach of the Year. The Gamecocks were ranked No. 1 in both polls for the entire year, and finished ranked No. 1 in the AP, Coaches, NET, RPI, ELO, SOS and Massey rankings.

Previous season
The Gamecocks finished the season with a 26–5 overall record and a 14–2 record in conference play. The Gamecocks won the SEC tournament. The Gamecocks therefore received an automatic bid to the 2021 NCAA Division I women's basketball tournament, where they reached the Final Four, losing to Stanford 66–65.

2021 recruiting class
The Gamecocks signed the #1 class for 2021 according to ESPN. their second #1 class in three years.

Preseason
Hall of Fame coach Dawn Staley enters her fourteenth year at South Carolina, fresh off winning an Olympic Gold Medal in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics winning all six games as head coach of Team USA.

South Carolina was named AP preseason #1 for the second straight season, as they return every player from last years Final Four team, added the #1 recruiting class, adding four 5 star recruits, three of which were ranked in the top 5. They also added ACC Freshman of the year and former 5 star recruit 6'8 Kamillia Cardoso.

Preseason All-American teams
First team

Aliyah Boston – C

SEC coaches poll
The SEC coaches selected the Gamecocks to finish in first place in the SEC.

Preseason All-SEC teams
First team

Aliyah Boston – C

Zia Cooke – SG

Second team

Destanni Henderson – PG

Schedule
!colspan=9 style=| Exhibition

!colspan=9 style=| Regular season

!colspan=9 style=| SEC tournament

!colspan=9 style=| NCAA tournament

Awards and honors

 * Aliyah Boston
 * Naismith Player of the Year
 * United States Basketball Writers Association Player of the Year
 * Wade Trophy
 * John R. Wooden Award
 * Ann Meyers Drysdale Women's Player of the Year
 * Associated Press Player of the Year
 * Naismith Women's Defensive Player of the Year
 * NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player
 * Lisa Leslie Award
 * Academic All-American of the Year
 * Associated Press first-team All-American
 * United States Basketball Writers Association first-team All-American
 * Women's Basketball Coaches Association All-American
 * SEC Player of the Year
 * First-team All-SEC
 * SEC Defensive Player of the Year
 * SEC All-Defensive Team
 * Destanni Henderson
 * United States Basketball Writers Association third-team All-American
 * First-team All-SEC
 * Zia Cooke
 * Second-team All-SEC
 * Dawn Staley
 * Naismith College Coach of the Year
 * WBCA National Coach of the Year Award
 * USBWA Women's National Coach of the Year
 * SEC Coach of the Year