TAMPA, Fla. >> Dawn Staley and South Carolina are one win away from joining an elite group of programs in women’s basketball history with a third national championship in four seasons.

Only two other schools have accomplished that feat: UConn and Tennessee.

“It’s hard to break into what Pat Summitt and Geno (Auriemma)” have done for women’s basketball, Staley said. “It’s really hard to even be mentioned in that air. ... Anything that you do and you have sustained success is really, really, really hard.

“But once you are able to understand what it takes to succeed there, it’s a little easier because you know.”

Auriemma and the Huskies stand in the way with the teams set to play Sunday for the NCAA title. It’s been nine years since Auriemma’s team won the championship, which capped off a run of four consecutive titles from 2013-16.

That win was the most recent of the record 11 national titles that Auriemma has won in his four decades at the school.

UConn has only reached the title game once since 2016, and during that drought has come up on the short end of heartbreaking last-second losses in the Final Four on buzzer-beaters. The Huskies’ lone title appearance in the past nine years came in 2022 when Staley’s team beat UConn to start the Gamecocks’ current run of success, a game that ended Auriemma’s perfect record in title games.

Auriemma has a healthy respect for Staley, knowing the South Carolina coach from her playing days at Virginia to her time with USA Basketball. She was an assistant coach for him during the 2016 Olympics before she became the national team’s head coach.

“To be where she is right now and to have done it in the way that she’s done it, I have a lot of respect for her,” he said. “I have tremendous respect for her knowing how she grew up and how hard she fought to get to where she is today. ... You don’t get here by accident. You get here by being committed and true to who you are. And she doesn’t try to be anything she’s not.”

After losing in the 2023 Final Four to Caitlin Clark and Iowa, the Gamecocks had an undefeated season last year to the school’s third title since 2017.

The only UConn player that saw significant time in the title game three years ago against South Carolina was Paige Bueckers. She’ll be playing in her final game for UConn hoping to leave the school with a championship, joining many other Husky greats that have played for Auriemma.

“I think everything in life has kind of taught me not to take things for granted,” she said. “Being in the national championship game, it’s extremely hard to get to and extremely rewarding to be a part of. And just how much we need to play 40 minutes and how connected we need to stay throughout the game. It’s going to be a game of runs. It’s extremely high stakes.”

The teams met earlier this season and UConn stunned South Carolina with a 29-point victory that ended the Gamecocks’ 71-game home winning streak, winning 87-58 on Feb. 16.