Gamecocks enter Sweet 16 with chip on shoulder

Dawn Staley was pleased. She knew her team had more talent than Syracuse and should advance to the Sweet 16.

She wanted more. She wanted South Carolina to come out with fire and play angry – something the Gamecocks didn’t do in their NCAA tournament opener or in past NCAA tournament games. Staley knew that at this time of year a team must play with something extra, since straight talent does not always triumph.

She found it.

The Gamecocks walloped Syracuse out of the Round of 32 with a 97-68 demolition on Sunday, taking every jab and poke from a ready-to-scrap Orange squad and giving it back with an extra helping. Perhaps it was the team knowing it was the final home game for seniors Aleighsa Welch, Elem Ibiam and Olivia Gaines. Perhaps it was something that clicked after the Savannah State opener.

USC’s talent was meshed with attitude, a chip-on-the-shoulder feel that had the Gamecocks thinking, “We know how good we are. Time to show the world.”

“For our players, it’s great to play an opponent where you didn’t have a lopsided win,” Staley said. “I thought they were really ready.”

Now the mission is to keep that feeling fresh until Friday when USC heads to Greensboro, N.C., and the Sweet 16. It will be USC’s third trip to the round in four years but remains the highest hurdle – the Gamecocks haven’t advanced in two tries under Staley and have once reached the Elite Eight (2002).

Staley was talking about it after Syracuse. It’s different than the first time they reached the Sweet 16 in 2012. That team lost as expected to Stanford but there was sparse disappointment – the season had been so wonderful that the loss couldn’t rub away the sparkle.

Last year, it was a disappointment when the Gamecocks lost to North Carolina (coincidentally, at Stanford). USC was the top seed and was expected to meet the host Cardinal for a shot at the Final Four. This year, USC is again the top seed but has been one of the top teams in the country all season.

“In order for us to get over that hump, it’s going to take us playing inspired basketball, it’s going to take some focusing in on our opponents and it’s going to take for us to execute game plans,” Staley said. “Because the stakes, they are higher, teams are getting a lot better and, obviously, everybody wants to survive and advance.”

Players spoke of keeping the same attitude. They expected all along to be here, and coming out the way they did against Syracuse gave them a feeling to remember and a drive to mimic.

“The attitude was to come out and go home, give it all we got, because it’s win or go home,” Gaines said.

USC was off on Monday, resting and relaxing, finding out the next opponent and getting ready to practice, pack and head to Tobacco Road. Despite the break, the Gamecocks don’t feel it will be a problem to make Friday a case of Syracuse, Part II.

“I don’t think it’s hard, especially at this point in the season, because you have so much riding on every game,” Welch said. “You have to have that mindset, because if you don’t do that, you face a really big risk of your season being over. At this point in the season, it’s not hard to find it, and it’s not hard to maintain it.”

This story was originally published March 24, 2015 at 9:19 AM.