San Antonio bound: Gamecocks earn No. 1 seed, learn NCAA tournament path
South Carolina women’s basketball is headed back to the NCAA tournament — and for the first time since their national championship run in 2017, the Gamecocks will be a No. 1 seed.
The full bracket for the NCAA tourney was revealed Monday evening on ESPN, and USC will open its bid for a third Final Four and second national title on Sunday, March 21, playing No. 16 seed Mercer on ESPN. Should they win, they’ll play the winner of No. 8 Oregon State vs. No. 9 Florida. Also in their region are No. 2 seed Maryland, No. 3 seed UCLA and No. 4 seed West Virginia.
“No matter who you play, you’re going to have to play. And it’s the first round, it’s the second round. As you advance into this tournament, it gets harder and harder, no matter if it’s parity-filled or not, it just gets harder,” coach Dawn Staley said Monday. “Your preparation is the same but it just seems like it’s always an uphill battle for us anyway. So we’ll look at it that way no matter who we’re playing. We got an uphill battle that we feel real good about. And we control our own destiny. If we don’t beat ourselves up, I like what we’re doing out there on the floor.”
Monday’s bracket reveal comes one year and two days since the NCAA made the historic decision in 2020 to cancel the tournament due to the COVID-19 pandemic. South Carolina had been widely expected to be named the No. 1 overall seed and was considered a favorite to win the national title.
But the thought of what might have been last year isn’t weighing too heavily on this squad.
“I don’t think that’s the sentiment of this team,” Staley said. “I think this team’s identity is a lot different than last year’s team. So, this team is just continuing trying to figure it out. Last year’s team really knew what our potential was and how to cater to that. This year, we’re just trying to figure it out and they’re just trying to find their way, just play their best basketball on each day and not look ahead and just be in the moment.”
COVID-19 will still impact this year’s tournament — unlike previous years, there will be no geographic regions. Instead, the entirety of the tournament will be played in Texas, with the majority of games, including every game from the second round on, taking place in the San Antonio area. The regionals have been renamed after San Antonio landmarks, putting USC atop the Hemisfair region.
All of South Carolina’s games will be in San Antonio, and they’ll depart for Texas on Tuesday morning, having recorded a week’s worth of negative tests. When they arrive, they’ll immediately be placed into quarantine until they return two more negative tests. It will be a tightly controlled, bubble-like atmosphere, but a tight team bond should help the Gamecocks through, sophomore forward Aliyah Boston said.
“We’ve definitely gotten so much closer as the season went on. And I just think we’re ready to go into San Antonio as a team, ready to play as a team and just kind of do everything together,” Boston said. “We have such a great relationship on and off the court, so that’s definitely an important aspect to how successful we are.”
Once the games actually start, the majority of USC’s roster will actually be playing in their first NCAA tournament game after missing out last year. Having that opportunity taken away made this Monday’s selection show, which the team watched from the floor of Colonial Life Arena, that much sweeter.
“I was so excited,” Boston said. “I had my phone ready to record everybody’s reaction. I was like, ‘This is the best time of my life.’ My family group chat’s talking about, ‘Oh my gosh, I think it’s happening. I think it’s their turn.’ I was like, ‘Yes!’”
USC BASKETBALL NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
2021 — No. 1 seed
2019 — No. 4 seed, Sweet 16
2018 — No. 2 seed, Elite Eight
2017 — No. 1 seed, National champion
2016 — No. 1 seed, Sweet 16
2015 — No. 1 seed, Final Four
2014 — No. 1 seed, Sweet 16
2013 — No. 4 seed, second round
2012 — No. 5 seed, Sweet 16
This story was originally published March 15, 2021 at 7:13 PM.
