Dawn Staley cheers on South Carolina softball at SEC Tournament Championship vs Tennessee

After leading South Carolina women’s basketball to the 2023 SEC Tournament championship, coach Dawn Staley is hoping to bring the winning energy to South Carolina softball.

Staley flew from Columbia to Fayetteville, Arkansas, on Saturday to watch the Gamecocks (37-19) take on No. 4 Tennessee (43-8) in the SEC Tournament championship game. Staley donned a South Carolina softball jersey and visor, picking the Gamecocks to win by three runs in a video with the SEC Network.

Staley and Gamecocks softball coach Beverly Smith are good friends and have worked at South Carolina together for more than a decade. Staley was hired as the women’s basketball coach in 2008, and Smith came to the softball program in 2011 after 12 seasons at North Carolina.

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South Carolina entered the SEC Tournament as the 10-seed, becoming the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the championship game. The Gamecocks earned three straight one-run victories in the tournament, including back-to-back upsets of 2-seed Georgia and 3-seed Auburn.

Tennessee was also the opponent when the women’s basketball team won 74-57 to secure its conference title on March 5. The Lady Vols softball team will look to avenge that loss, making their first title game appearance since 2018. The Gamecocks faced Tennessee just a week ago in their final regular-season series. The Lady Vols clinched the SEC regular-season title against South Carolina with a 2-1 win in the series, but the Gamecocks salvaged a win with a 4-2 victory in Game 3.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Dawn Staley cheers South Carolina softball at SEC Championship vs Vols