Dawn Staley expresses frustration over potential coin toss SEC tiebreaker: ‘Should’ve thought a little bit more ahead’

In just one week, South Carolina women’s basketball will take the court at the SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament with the goal of defending their back-to-back conference titles. However, as the regular season winds down with only two games left, Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks are still in limbo, tied with No. 1 Texas for the top spot in the SEC standings, both holding a 13-1 record.

This deadlock may not be resolved until Sunday, with the possibility of a coin toss deciding which team claims the top seed, according to SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey. Staley, clearly frustrated by the situation, expressed her discontent with the tiebreaker scenario when speaking to reporters on Wednesday.

“If we take care of business and Texas takes care of business, our fate is in a coin toss. Yay,” Staley remarked. She continued, “I think we should’ve thought a little bit more ahead of this situation knowing that we were bringing a Texas and a Oklahoma into the SEC. That’s just me, though.”

If @TexasWBB and @GamecockWBB both win out, the No. 1 seed in the SEC Tournament would come down to a coin flip.

Dawn Staley: "I think we should've thought a little bit more ahead of this situation knowing that we were bringing a Texas and a Oklahoma into the SEC." pic.twitter.com/oFFZeiEk5G

— Matt Dowell (@MattDowellTV) February 26, 2025

As The Greenville News‘ Lulu Kesin reported, if both the Gamecocks and Longhorns finish the week with 4-0 records, the two teams will share the title of co-SEC regular season champions, and a coin flip by Sankey will determine who secures the No. 1 seed in next week’s tournament.

The SEC has outlined three tiebreakers to resolve such situations:

A) Head-to-head win-loss results between the two teams
B) Win-loss record against the No. 1 seed and, if necessary, proceeding through the No. 14 seed
C) A coin flip by the commissioner

Since South Carolina and Texas split their regular-season series 1-1, with each team claiming a home victory, tiebreakers A and B are no longer applicable. In a typically playful fashion, Staley quipped about the situation, adding another twist to the story:

“It will be a coin toss if all goes the way I’m seeing it. Texas is probably not seeing it that way, they probably want us to drop a game. I hope they drop a game too. Take it out of the commissioner’s hands,” Staley said. “It is what it is.”

The Gamecocks have claimed the SEC regular season title in three of the last four seasons under Staley, with the exception of the 2020-2021 season.

As South Carolina heads into their final two games of the regular season, they face Ole Miss on Thursday at 9 p.m. ET, followed by a home matchup with No. 14 Kentucky on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET at Colonial Life Arena.