Pajama parties and naptime: How USC is preparing for a late tipoff against Virginia
It was already late Friday night when South Carolina women's basketball, fresh off a tough opening win against North Carolina A&T in the NCAA tournament, learned the start time of its second-round matchup with Virginia on Sunday: 9 p.m.
That's the latest start time second-seeded USC has had all season, and it means the contest could very well last beyond 11 p.m. on a day when most people have work the next morning.
Dawn Staley is fully aware of that, and she's doing her best to make the most of it, playfully tweeting out an "excuse slip" for fans to print out and give to their bosses to explain their sleepiness on Monday.
She's also referred to the game as a "pajama party" on Twitter, and on Saturday, she made it clear that she really does want to make that promotion a reality.
"Nothing's going to stop our program, our fans, from being successful. Not a 9 o'clock start, not a trip across the country. None of it. So we're going to make the most of it. It's going to be a pajama party and hopefully we'll have over 10,000 fans wearing Gamecock pajamas and enjoying a great college atmosphere," Staley said.
For the Gamecock players, meanwhile, the late start matters, too, Staley said. It throws off their normal gameday routine and leaves a lot of empty hours in the morning and early afternoon.
"It's just so long. The day is not broken up. We've got a 3 p.m. shootaround, 5 p.m. pregame. So we have to fill that 9-2 slot. So we've got to get back in the swing of things and do a little study hall, get them up for breakfast. I think they're going to do some stuff with our strength and conditioning coach in the morning. We've got to fill the day up a little bit but also allow them to rest, because it's not a normal start time," Staley said.
The answer from the Gamecock players as to how they'll fill their free time was nearly universal: naps.
"After my massage, I'll probably take a nap," sophomore guard Tyasha Harris said.
"I'll probably do what I usually do. Take a nap, get up and then get going," sophomore forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan said.
"I do that anyways. I'll take a nap for noon games," senior forward A'ja Wilson joked.
Beyond that, Staley and her players said they'll mostly just hang out and do what most sports fans are doing this time of year: Watch March Madness games. Still, the wait cannot cause the Gamecocks to lose their focus or their edge, Wilson said.
"Really the biggest thing is just rest, maintain focus. I think we had a late start against Texas A&M one time, so this is not familiar to us, but at least we know how to operate during that time," she said.
Short of that, Staley joked that her team will simply act as though they are across the country.
"We'll pretend we're on the West Coast. It's a 6 p.m. start," she said.
South Carolina and Virginia battle in the round of 32 on Sunday on ESPN. Tipoff is scheduled for 9 p.m.
This story was originally published March 17, 2018 at 4:35 PM with the headline "Pajama parties and naptime: How USC is preparing for a late tipoff against Virginia."