A day after UCLA was anointed the best women’s college basketball team in the country in the season’s opening month, Cori Close showed up at the practice facility to see another early riser.Her players.

But after watching Notre Dame take down USC and UCLA deliver a convincing victory against South Carolina, the Irish and Bruins appear closer to achieving South Carolina’s 2023-24 formula than the defending champs themselves — a sentiment Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley felt after their loss.