Riley Gaines tears down South Carolina HC for supporting trans athletes in women's sports: "Dawn Staley didn't have courage to stand with women"

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley found herself mired in controversy merely hours before the Gamecocks played in the national championship game against the Iowa Hawkeyes, which they won convincingly 87-75.

Staley spoke to OutKick's Dan Zaksheske about granting transgender women the right to play in female sports.

"Damn, you got deep on me, didn't you?" Staley said. "I'm on the opinion of, if you're a woman, you should play. If you consider yourself a woman and you want to play sports or vice versa, you should be able to play. That's my opinion.”

Former Kentucky swimmer Riley Gaines has been an ardent advocate against trans women competing in female sports ever since she tied for fifth place with transgender athlete Lia Thomas in the 2022 national championship.

After the South Carolina Gamecocks beat Caitlin Clark's Iowa Hawkeyes in the national championship game, Gaines immediately congratulated them on X before pivoting towards coach Staley's stance on the issue and blasting her for it.

During an appearance on FOX News, Gaines again criticized the popular Dawn Staley and her stance on the matter.

"So what I think this boils down to is, she (Staley) didn't have the courage to stand with women. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity for her, and she blew it. And truthfully my guess is she is OK with it until her team is defeated by one or more men playing on the opposite team," Gaines said.

Gaines later revealed that Staley had blocked her on X.

Dawn Staley and the issue of transgender women in sports

The issue of transgender women participating in women's sports has been a divisive issue in the United States, with opponents and proponents engaged in ongoing debate.

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley is not the only prominent person who has faced that question, but the outspoken coach knew the backlash that she would receive for her views during her interview with OutKick.

"Yes, yes," Dawn Staley said. "So now the barnstormer people are going to flood my timeline and be a distraction to me on one of the biggest days of our game, and I'm OK with that. I really am."

Iowa Hawkeyes coach Lisa Bluder was asked the same question as Dawn Staley but she declined to give a detailed answer instead shelving it for a future date.

"I understand it's a topic that people are interested in," Bluder said. "But today my focus is on the game tomorrow, my players. It's an important game we have tomorrow, and that's what I want to be here to talk about. But I know it's an important issue for another time."

Riley Gaines recently joined 15 student-athletes in suing the NCAA for allowing swimmer Lia Thomas to participate in the 2022 national championship showing that the matter is far from over.