Winston Gandy’s debut as head coach of Grand Canyon women’s basketball was a challenging one. His squad suffered a 94-54 loss to Dawn Staley’s South Carolina in Monday’s season opener in front of a crowd of over 15,000.
Gandy said that the loss would serve as “a bit of a learning curve” for his players. Meanwhile, the game also marked a personal moment for him, as he returned to Colonial Life Arena to receive his Final Four and SEC Championship ring.
Winston Gandy Shares Honest Confession Following the Loss to Dawn Staley’s Squad
Gandy spent two seasons as an assistant coach under Staley from 2023 to 2025. During his first year with South Carolina in the 2023-24 season, he played a big role in helping the Gamecocks capture the 2024 NCAA National Championship, and Staley specifically praised his scouting contributions.
Gandy stayed with the Gamecocks through the 2024-25 season before taking the head coaching position at Grand Canyon in March. Monday’s game marked Gandy’s first time returning to Columbia and his first meeting with Staley on opposite sidelines, which brought plenty of emotion to his homecoming.
In his postgame conference, the first-year head coach spoke on the experience.
“I think it was a little weird,” Gandy said. “Even coming in, I think I went to the wrong locker room. It was like one locker room off, and they all started laughing. But this place has been great to me. Obviously, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time here, but you wouldn’t be able to tell by the sense of community.”
“Dawn obviously hasn’t just built a great program. It’s been the community as well. And so to be able to come back here, see a lot of familiar faces from that standpoint…its kind of bittersweet.”
Former @GamecockWBB assistant Winston Gandy was asked by @MattDowellTV on the emotions of his return to Columbia
“I think I went to the wrong locker room.”
Adds that he sees why teams don’t want to take this game.@wachfox pic.twitter.com/Pn4I4AqqHh
— Jared Parker (@jaredparkertv) November 4, 2025
Monday’s game extended South Carolina’s season-opening win streak to 15 straight under Staley, but her squad witnessed a terrible injury in the game. Point guard Maddy McDaniel suffered a hard collision on a screen in the third quarter and needed assistance to reach the locker room with just over four minutes left in the period.
After the game, Staley said she wasn’t overly concerned, believing McDaniel’s setback was simply a knee-to-knee contact injury.
Meanwhile, Gandy showed a class act by expressing his support for McDaniel and complimenting his former team’s performance.
“I finally get to see kind of what a lot of other teams got to experience the last two years here,” Gandy said. “First, obviously, I want to send prayers Maddy’s way. I hope it’s nothing too serious. Obviously, you hate to see anyone go down, regardless of what team.”
“But I thought they came out of the gates and the three-ball was flowing. And obviously, that’s the risk you take. You can’t take anything away from a great team. You’ve got to pick your poison,” he added.
Gandy and the Lopes will now return to Phoenix to host Idaho State on Saturday in their home opener for the 2025-26 season.