How to watch as No. 1 South Carolina opens NCAA Tournament vs. Norfolk State
After a perfect regular season and SEC tournament run, it’s finally time for the South Carolina women’s basketball team to defend its national championship.
The Gamecocks are the No. 1 overall seed in the bracket for the second straight year and open 2023 NCAA Tournament play on Friday afternoon with a first-round game against No. 16 seed Norfolk State at Colonial Life Arena.
Here’s what you need to know:
South Carolina vs. Norfolk State game info
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (32-0) vs. No. 16 Norfolk State (26-6)
Where: Colonial Life Arena in Columbia
When: Approximately 2 p.m. Friday
TV: ESPN
Stream: Via ESPN or the ESPN app
Next up: The winner of South Carolina-Norfolk State will play the winner of the No. 8 South Florida-No. 9 Marquette game on Sunday. The time is to be determined.
Journey begins for South Carolina
And so begins the “win-or-go-home” portion of the country’s longest winning streak — 38 games strong entering Friday’s NCAA Tournament first round.
South Carolina has been the wire-to-wire No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 all season, as well as the 2023 title favorite, but games take on a new level of intensity come March Madness. Anything less than six more wins and a second straight championship would be a disappointment.
As such, expect the Gamecocks to set the tone early against Norfolk State, much like they did in last season’s first round win over Howard. USC didn’t allow for a second of doubt in that win, limiting the Bison to an NCAA Tournament-worst four halftime points and 21 total points.
And if that goes as planned, keep an eye on South Carolina’s bench. There’s perhaps no better time than Friday for coach Dawn Staley to get a number of next year’s expected contributors — sophomore Bree Hall, redshirt freshman Raven Johnson and freshman Ashlyn Watkins — some extra big-game minutes.
Norfolk State’s standout defense
Norfolk State isn’t just the MEAC conference champion and winners of 12 of its -ast 15 games — by some metrics, it’s the best defensive team in Division I women’s college basketball.
Yes, even ahead of USC.
Entering Friday’s game, Norfolk State ranks No. 1 nationally among 350 teams in scoring defense (50.0 points per game), three spots ahead of South Carolina, and No. 1 in field-goal percentage defense (31.2%), one spot ahead of South Carolina.
Of course, that begs the question: Can coach Larry Vickers’ squad keep that up against its best opponent yet? In the Spartans’ only other game against an SEC team this season, they set season lows for points scored and points allowed in a 90-32 loss to Alabama (a No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament).
South Carolina vs. Norfolk State game notes
This is the first meeting between South Carolina and Norfolk State, which competes in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference, one of two Division I HBCU conferences.
USC is 6-0 all-time against No. 16 seeds.
USC is 15-0 at home this season.
This is Norfolk State’s second all-time NCAA Tournament appearance and first since 2002. That year, the Spartans were also a No. 16 seed and lost to No. 1 Duke.
South Carolina leads the NCAA with 9.0 blocks per game, and its 288 total blocks are a new SEC single-season record.
Under two-time reigning SEC Coach of the Year Staley, USC swept the SEC’s regular-season and tournament titles for the fifth time in the past nine seasons.
Gamecocks and Spartans players to watch
Aliyah Boston, F, South Carolina: Earlier this week, Boston earned her third AP All-America First Team nod and fourth overall. She’s only the fifth player in history to make four AP All-America teams in a row and remains USC’s most important and influential starter.
Brea Beal, G, South Carolina: Beal is known for her defense — Beal and Boston are both finalists for the Naismith Defensive Player of the Year award — but she’s been showing up on offense, too. Over her past eight games she’s averaging 8.9 points on 50% shooting.
Kierra Wheeler, F, Norfolk State: Wheeler’s averaging a solid 11.0 points per game this year, but that jumped to 16.3 points — and 8.6 rebounds — during three conference tournament games. For her efforts, she was named the MEAC’s Most Outstanding Performer.
Camille Downs, G, Norfolk State: Downs is the clubhouse leader within Norfolk State’s statistically dominant defense. Outside of her team-high 11.9 points per game, Downs is No. 4 nationally in total steals (106) and No. 5 in steals per game (3.42).
This story was originally published March 16, 2023 at 4:22 PM.
