[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 70 (Tuesday, April 25, 2017)]
[Senate]
[Page S2534]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




SENATE RESOLUTION 141--CONGRATULATING THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA 
   WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TEAM FOR WINNING THE 2017 NATIONAL COLLEGIATE 
     ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION DIVISION I WOMEN'S BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT 
                              CHAMPIONSHIP

  Mr. SCOTT (for himself and Mr. Graham) submitted the following 
resolution; which was considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 141

       Whereas, on April 2, 2017, at American Airlines Center in 
     Dallas, Texas, the University of South Carolina Gamecocks won 
     the national title game for the National Collegiate Athletic 
     Association Division I Women's Basketball Tournament over the 
     Mississippi State Bulldogs by a score of 67 to 55;
       Whereas the University of South Carolina Gamecocks women's 
     basketball team won the 2017 Southeastern Conference 
     championship;
       Whereas the University of South Carolina Gamecocks women's 
     basketball team head coach Dawn Staley, a 3-time Olympian who 
     was elected to carry the United States flag at the opening 
     ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympics, was elected to the 
     Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2013, and is the 
     new head coach of the United States women's national 
     basketball team, joins Carolyn Peck as the only 2 African-
     American female head coaches to lead a National Collegiate 
     Athletic Association Division I basketball team to a national 
     title;
       Whereas this is the first National Collegiate Athletic 
     Association Division I Women's Basketball Tournament 
     Championship for the University of South Carolina Gamecocks 
     women's basketball team, who finished the season with 33 wins 
     and 4 losses;
       Whereas A'ja Wilson, who is from Columbia, South Carolina, 
     and an alumna of Heathwood Hall Episcopal School, was named 
     Southeastern Conference player of the year and the National 
     Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Women's Basketball 
     Tournament Championship most valuable player;
       Whereas the University of South Carolina has been a leader 
     on the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for last 
     10 years;
       Whereas, each year, University of South Carolina student-
     athletes support approximately 100 events and organizations 
     for a total of more than 5,000 hours of service;
       Whereas A'ja Wilson received First Team All-America 
     recognition from the Women's Basketball Coaches Association, 
     and senior center Alaina Coates earned an All-America 
     honorable mention;
       Whereas junior Kaela Davis was a College Sports Information 
     Directors of America Academic All-District selection;
       Whereas University of South Carolina student-athletes 
     earned a departmental grade point average of 3.245 for the 
     Fall 2016 semester, the 20th-consecutive semester in which 
     Gamecock student-athletes have combined for a grade point 
     average above 3.0; and
       Whereas the University of South Carolina is ranked number 1 
     in the United States for attendance at women's basketball 
     games: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) congratulates the University of South Carolina women's 
     basketball team for winning the 2017 National Collegiate 
     Athletic Association Division I Women's Basketball Tournament 
     Championship; and
       (2) recognizes the achievements of--
       (A) the team's players, coaches, and staff, whose hard work 
     and dedication helped the University of South Carolina 
     women's basketball team win that Championship; and
       (B) the dedicated faculty and staff of the University of 
     South Carolina for building an educational environment that 
     has helped University of South Carolina student-athletes to 
     thrive.

                          ____________________