Dawn Staley Headlines 2023 Women's College Coach of the Year Semifinalists

After leading South Carolina to a perfect regular season and an SEC tournament championship, Dawn Staley headlines the list of 10 semifinalists for the 2023 Werner Ladder Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award.

The Gamecocks have been ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll all season. Staley's team is outscoring its opponents by an average of 30.3 points per game.

Other candidates vying for the award include LSU's Kim Mulkey, Iowa's Lisa Bluder and Indiana's Teri Moren.

Here is the full list of semifinalists as determined by the Atlanta Tipoff Club:

• Dawn Staley, South Carolina
• Kim Mulkey, LSU
• Lisa Bluder, Iowa
• Teri Moren, Indiana
• Denise Dillon, Villanova
• Joe Tartamella, St. John's
• Kenny Brooks, Virginia Tech
• Lynne Roberts, Utah
• Niele Ivey, Notre Dame
• Vic Schaefer, Texas

Staley is looking to win the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award for the third time in the past four seasons. She can also become the first person to win it in back-to-back years since Geno Auriemma in 2015-16 and 2016-17.

South Carolina has been the most dominant team in the sport over the past two seasons with a 67-2 record. It will be the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament after breezing through the SEC tournament with three wins by at least 16 points.

Only four times in 32 games so far this season have the Gamecocks won by 10 or fewer points. They rank first in the nation in offensive rating and second in defensive rating, per Sports-Reference.com.

Bluder is making a strong push to challenge Staley for the award. The 61-year-old has led Iowa to a 15-2 record in its last 17 games with three wins in the Big Ten tournament, including a dominant 105-72 victory over Ohio State in the championship game.

The Hawkeyes are ranked No. 2 in the AP poll, their highest position this season. Caitlin Clark is arguably the best player in the nation. They are set up to make a deep tournament run after being upset in the second round by Creighton last season.

Bluder can become the first Iowa head coach to be named Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year multiple times. She previously took home the honor for the 2018-19 season, joining C. Vivian Stringer as the only coaches in program history to win the award.

Teri Moren has done a great job building Indiana into a national powerhouse. The Hoosiers have already won a program-record 27 games this season. They did end the regular season losing two of their final three games, but both losses were to No. 2 Iowa and No. 12 Ohio State by a combined total of five points.

In just her second season at LSU, Mulkey has the team sitting at 28-2 going into the NCAA tournament. Its lone loss before the SEC tournament was against South Carolina on Feb. 12.

Mulkey is one of the best coaches in NCAA history, but she's only won this award one other time for the 2011-12 season with Baylor. Her 686 career wins are tied for 15th among all women's coaches.

The four finalists for the Naismith Women's College Coach of the Year award will be announced on March 20.

Fan voting, which accounts for 5 percent of the overall vote count, will open on March 21 and run through the 28th after the finalists are determined. The winner will be announced on March 29 during a ceremony at the Women's Final Four in Dallas.