No. 1 South Carolina’s SEC tournament opponent is set. What to know for Friday
Dawn Staley said there’s a “greediness” that comes for No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball in the postseason.
South Carolina claimed the SEC regular season championship outright in a nearly spotless run, tallied an 11-0 record against Top-25 teams and suffered just one loss in overtime to Missouri on Dec. 30.
The Gamecocks want more as they head into this week’s SEC women’s basketball tournament with a healthy roster, as sophomore reserve Kamilla Cardoso returned to practice and will make the trip to Nashville, Tennessee after sitting out USC’s final regular-season win at Ole Miss on Feb. 27.
“I do feel like our players are locked in and focused on playing their best basketball and winning as many championships as possible,” Staley said. “We’ve put this team together. We felt like it could be something super special if everybody had buy-in, and the buy-in is there. The regular season championship is there, and I’m sure they want to check off some other stuff.”
Here’s what to know ahead of this weekend’s games.
Who will South Carolina play in the SEC tournament?
Only one team had lost in this year’s SEC tournament — Texas A&M — by the time the Gamecocks departed Columbia on Wednesday afternoon. Staley packed the other 12 scouting folders for Nashville.
The Gamecocks clinched the tournament’s top seed, earning one of four double-byes before starting quarterfinals play at 1 p.m. Friday.
Within the 2022 SEC women’s basketball tournament bracket, South Carolina starts with No. 8 seed Arkansas. The Razorbacks earned a 61-52 overtime win over No. 9 Missouri in a second-round game Thursday.
South Carolina defeated Arkansas 61-52 when the two met in Fayetteville on Jan. 16. The Gamecocks put up a 20-point lead over the Razorbacks in the third quarter of that game, but allowed a late Arkansas run. South Carolina committed 19 turnovers in the Arkansas game.
Arkansas was the last team to defeat South Carolina in an SEC tournament, when then-No. 10-seed Razorbacks defeated the then-No. 2 seed Gamecocks in the 2019 quarterfinals.
A win on Friday puts the Gamecocks in the semifinals, where they’ll play against the winner of Game 8, played between No. 4 seed Ole Miss and No. 5 Florida, which defeated No. 13 Vanderbilt on Thursday.
No. 2 LSU and No. 3 Tennessee are on the other side of the bracket. In the quarterfinals, Kim Mulkey’s Tigers will play No. 7 Kentucky, while Kellie Harper’s Vols play the winner of Game 6 between No. 6 Georgia and No. 11 Alabama.
The SEC tournament championship game will be Sunday at 2 p.m. on ESPN.
“We don’t want to get too far out of the mold of what’s in front of us, and we haven’t,” Staley said. “But to coach in March, you do have to think about all those things. You don’t have to play to those things, but you have to think about how you navigate who you play — all the things that you have to navigate in an SEC tournament, like who’s the next up? Who’s on the other side? What’s the possibilities?”
What’s at stake for SC in the SEC tournament?
The Gamecocks are going for their seventh SEC tournament win in eight seasons, a streak dating back to the 2014-15 campaign with just one hiccup when Mississippi State took the tournament crown in 2019.
Staley says winning the conference tournament is a pivotal step on USC’s charge to a national title, its centerpiece goal throughout the 2021-22 season.
“We always like winning the SEC tournament championship,” Staley said. “We just feel like playing in our league, winning the regular season and winning the tournament will put you in prime position to compete and win a national championship. So that’s what we’re going to continue to hang our hats on.”
South Carolina has been projected as No. 1 overall seed for this year’s NCAA tournament throughout the regular season, with the NCAA Division I women’s basketball committee listing the Gamecocks at No. 1 in all three of its top 16 reveals this year.
The Gamecocks were seeded in the Greensboro Regional with No. 2 Michigan, No. 3 UConn and No. 4 Oklahoma in the committee’s final top-16 reveal on Feb. 28.
South Carolina will learn the field on Selection Sunday, when the full 68-team bracket is revealed March 13 at 8 p.m. on ESPN.
3 Gamecocks to watch in the SEC tournament
Aliyah Boston: National Player of the Year candidate Aliyah Boston has been a can’t-miss player on the Gamecocks’ roster throughout her junior season. She eclipsed an SEC record in consecutive double-doubles and takes that 21-game streak into the SEC tournament. Averaging a team-high 16.8 points and 11.9 rebounds, Boston was named 2021-22 SEC Player of the Year and conference Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches this week.
Destanni Henderson: The Gamecocks’ veteran point guard has played a key role in catalyzing USC’s offense through SEC play as of late. Henderson, a senior, tied her career-high scoring effort with 23 points in her last game against Texas A&M. She has scored 40 points across the last two games on 52% shooting (17 of 33) in that period.
Kamilla Cardoso: A transfer out of Syracuse, Cardoso has been one of South Carolina’s most valuable players off the bench in her first year with the Gamecocks. Cardoso has battled with minor injuries throughout SEC play and sat out a pair of games to play with her national team in February, but Staley said the 6-foot-7 sophomore center practiced before the tournament and will be available after dealing with an upper body injury. Cardoso averages 5.9 points and 5.4 rebounds in conference play, including 16 blocks across 11 games played.
How to watch South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2022 SEC women’s basketball tournament
Who: No. 1 South Carolina Gamecocks (27-1, 15-1 SEC) vs. Arkansas Razorbacks (18-12, 8-9 SEC)
When: 1 p.m. Friday
Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published March 3, 2022 at 10:20 AM.
