Dawn Staley Getty South Carolina Gamecocks
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The South Carolina and Notre Dame women's basketball teams will tip off the 2023-24 basketball season in Paris, the host city for the 2024 Summer Olympics. They will make history on Nov. 6 as this is the first time ever an NCAA regular-season basketball game -- men's or women's -- has been played on French soil.

"We did not hesitate to accept the invitation" said South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley in a statement. "Playing Notre Dame in Paris is a once-in-a-lifetime experience for our student-athletes, and I'm thankful for the support of our administration and our donors."

The Gamecocks are coming off an almost perfect season as they won their first 36 of their games before falling to Iowa in the FInal Four. South Carolina, the 2022 NCAA Tournament champion, spent all season ranked No. 1 in the AP Top 25 Poll, and Staley earned the Naismith Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year.

The team is losing several key pieces, including two-time National Defensive Player of the Year Aliyah Boston. For the first time in the program's history, the Gamecocks had five players selected in the 2023 WNBA Draft. Nevertheless, next year's roster still has solid talent including Raven Johnson, Kamilla Cardoso and Bree Hall.

Meanwhile, 2023 ACC Coach of the Year Niele Ivey led Notre Dame to the conference regular season title and made it to the Sweet 16 round of the NCAA Tournament. Unlike South Carolina, the Fighting Irish will look similar to last season as they return four of their five starters in Olivia Miles, Sonia Citron, Maddy Westbeld and Kylee Watson.

Notre Dame and South Carolina have met five times before, with Notre Dame holding a 3-2 edge in their all-time series. Three of the matchups have been in neutral sites, and Notre Dame has won all of those. 

"Notre Dame is playing under the shadow of Notre Dame! We are absolutely thrilled to be heading to Paris to participate in this historic matchup between two storied women's basketball programs," Ivey said in a statement.

"It's always been my mission to break barriers and provide opportunities for my players to have life-changing experiences. Women's basketball is on the rise right now, and having this exposure continues to grow the game on an international platform."