ALBANY, N.Y. – Dawn Staley wondered if No. 1 overall seed South Carolina was playing its best basketball heading into and during the SEC Tournament earlier this month.
“We weren’t just clicking on both sides of the basketball,” Staley said Thursday before the Sweet 16 at MVP Arena. “There were bouts of that, but when we had some time to practice between the SEC tournament championship and then our first round, we took a lot of rest, but when we came back from our break we really sharpened up. in.”
The nation’s only undefeated team (34-0) entered after two weeks off with a 99-point winning margin over their first two games of the tournament. No. 4 Indiana (26-5) and star player Mackenzie Holmes will have a tougher task. The last time the two met was the 2019 Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands.
Staley remembers that game vividly and recently looked back at the box score. The Gamecocks were outscored 20-6 in the final quarter. It was their only loss of the season and they were in position for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament until it was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The next year, South Carolina lost at the last second in the Final Four. In 2022, it won its second national championship in program history.
It is well on its way to third place with the second-best offense (86.3 ppg), the best defense (55.4 ppg) and a crushing 30.9 ppg winning margin. In just six games, an opponent has finished within single digits. Six other teams were crushed by at least 50. They’re rolling out such a balanced squad that Indiana head coach Teri Moren said she prepared for the Gamecocks as if they had 10 starters.
“Like I told our kids, I think, yeah, we’re the underdog, but I think everyone else, except South Carolina, is the underdog right now because of their perfect record,” Moren said. “I don’t know if anyone believes South Carolina can be beaten.”
The Hoosiers will have their first chance to topple Goliath when the sides meet Friday at 5 PM ET on ESPN. No. No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Oregon State will play in the first Albany 1 regional semifinal (2:30 p.m. ET, ESPN). The Albany 2 Region continues play on Saturday.
South Carolina could become the fifth school to go undefeated in a season, joining Texas, UConn, Tennessee and Baylor. It would be the 10th time in NCAA DI women’s basketball history, dating back to 1982, that a team has finished the schedule undefeated.
“They have no idea. They have short memories,” Staley said of her team’s recognition of history. “They’re only concerned with the present, which is pretty cool. You don’t have to talk them off an edge because their thinking will be easy. They watch one game at a time.”
It’s a rather inexperienced group after graduating all five starters, including Aliyah Boston, 2022 Naismith Player of the Year. Te-Hina Paopao, a guard who transferred from Oregon, and Kamilla Cardoso, a potential lottery pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft, are the senior leaders.
Staley noted after the SEC tournament, in which South Carolina survived a close call from Tennessee followed by a tight game with LSU, that players were a little too loose and perhaps thought things would be easy from there.
“My energy spoke to the conclusion that we have to keep the most important thing the most important,” Staley said. “And the most important thing right now is our next opponent.
“Right now, Indiana is the only team that matters right now because the margin of victory is so small at this stage of the game. This team really doesn’t know that. They know it from playing in the SEC and coming close to losing. But they don’t know it on this scale in the NCAA tournament. So I just want to keep them focused on what’s right in front of us.”
ALBANY 1 REGIONAL
No. 1 South Carolina (34-0) vs. No. 4 Indiana (26-5)
Last meeting: 2019, Indiana won, 71-57 (Paradise Jam)
South Carolina: Six players averaged at least 9.5 ppg this year, led by Cardoso (13.9 ppg, 9.5 rpg) and freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley (12.2 ppg). Raven Johnson (4.8 apg, 2.1 spg) and Paopao (11.2 ppg, 3.8 apg) run things in the backcourt.
What Moren said about limiting the Cardoso to 6-foot-1:
“You’re not going to stop her from scoring. She’s too talented for that, and this is too good of a basketball team. They deliberately find ways to get her the ball. I think you have to try to do your job as early as possible and keep her away from the edge as best you can, but I also think it requires help from others, whether that’s doubling up, digging, just trying to keep her away as best you can to repress. we can.”
Indiana: The Hoosiers’ average of 79.6 ppg ranks 14th in DI, but the defense is in the middle of the pack thanks to the high-scoring Big Ten. Fifth-year seniors Holmes (20 ppg, 6.8 rpg), a 6-3 former All-American, and guard Sara Scalia (16.4 ppg) lead the offense.
What Staley said about Holmes: “Holmes is one who does her damage in the paint. If we can get her to bring fifteen footers, we’re doing our job. But we know that 90 to 95 percent of what she’s going to do will benefit us. Our positioning will be great [and] have to be great at containing her, and then their perimeter players have the opportunity to shoot the ball. They are one of the most efficient teams in the country offensively, so we have to disrupt things, we have to make them play a little faster than they want to, and our defense definitely has to show up.”
No. 2 Notre Dame (28-6) vs. No. 3 Oregon State (26-7)
Last meeting: 2021, Notre Dame won, 64-62
Notre Dame: The Fighting Irish are playing with too few players this season due to a plethora of injuries, including that of their point guard Olivia Miles. Hannah Hidalgo (22.9 ppg, 5.6 apg, 4.6 spg) runs the show for the ACC tournament champions, leading the big three alongside Sonia Citron (17.1 ppg, 5.4 rpg, 2.8 apg) and Maddy Westbeld (14.2 ppg, 8.9 rpg).
What Oregon State head coach Scott Rueck said about Hidalgo:
“[She’s] such a dynamic player. She influences the game in so many ways. Her pace and speed is special. Her skills are special. Her ability to score is special, and her ability to disrupt defensively is special.
“She has been given the keys to the team. She plays with that confidence and that swagger that she has, the green light. So give Niele a lot of credit for building her up like that. We have players like [Jaylyn] Sherrod from Colorado. I’m saying they’re somewhat similar in terms of their overall impact and their ability to just make plays even outside the system, maybe at that point.
State of Oregon: The Beavers play a pure turnover game and play through the double-double machine Raegan Beers (17.5 ppg, 10.2 rpg). Talia von Oelhoffen runs the attack (4.9 apg). They are one of the nation’s best at hitting 3s, scoring 32.9% of their points (ranked 63rd) from behind the arc.
What Irish head coach Niele Ivey said about Oregon State:
“I think for us it’s just about managing their physicality, their size, but also their ability to shoot from the three-point line. We’re going to be very strategic tomorrow and try to attack the things they have defensively, but also find ways to control their posts and rebounds. It will be a very tough task, but I’m looking forward to it.”