Valentine's Day reactions: Dawn Staley takes to social media to send a special message to South Carolina Gamecocks and fans

Friday marked Valentine's Day, and South Carolina coach Dawn Staley shared her greetings for the day via X.

Addressing her Gamecocks players and the team's fans, Staley shared a photo of her dog, Champ, in the Colonial Life Arena and tweeted:

"Happy HEART DAY to my @GamecockWBB babies! Oh and yall too, my good peeps!!"

After winning the 2024 national championship with an undefeated season run, many predicted that Dawn Staley and South Carolina won't be able o repeat it. Likewise, the Gamecocks' run this season has been near perfect, registering losses to the UCLA Bruins and the Texas Longhorns.

Starting the season as the No. 1 ranked team, South Carolina occupies the No. 4 spot. They rank second in the Southeastern Conference standings with an 11-1 record.

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Dawn Staley shares her thoughts on the big clash against UConn

After Thursday's 101-63 win over the Florida Gators, Dawn Staley is preparing for the heavyweight battle against No. 7 UConn Huskies on Sunday. The last time the two teams clashed was in February 2024, when South Carolina won 83-65.

Having retained most of her players from last year, Staley was asked about the game and the preparations during a chat with the media on Friday.

“It feels like the preparation for all the games that we have to play,” she said. “Is it a little bit extra special because of UConn? Maybe. But it’s very similar to our preparation for all of our big games.”

Going into the details of her game plan, Dawn Staley said:

"They’re pretty talented, as always. I think they get more of their stuff that they want to get. It’s less relying on just Paige (Bueckers) to do her thing. I think Strong gives them a lot of options because of our ability to score the ball, pass the ball and her IQ factors into what they do.

"So I don’t think it changes anything as to our emphasis, which is to disrupt their flow and their fluidity of their offense."

In its last five games, UConn has lost just one to Tennessee, just like the Gamecocks, who lost to Texas on Feb. 9.

The game is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST and will be broadcast on ABC with streaming options available on Disney+ and ESPN+.