South Carolina WBB vs. Maryland in NCAA Sweet 16: How to watch, top storylines
South Carolina women’s basketball is in a familiar spot:
The second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
After winning two games in Columbia last week, coach Dawn Staley and the No. 1-seeded Gamecocks have advanced to their 11th consecutive Sweet 16 and play Maryland on Friday afternoon in Birmingham. Here’s what you need to know.
South Carolina vs. Maryland game, TV info
- Who: No. 1 South Carolina (32-3) vs. No. 4 Maryland (25-7)
- Where: Legacy Arena in Birmingham, Alabama.
- When: 5 p.m. ET Friday
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: 107.5 FM locally (see full list of affiliates here)
- Stream: Via watchespn.com or the ESPN app
- Betting line: South Carolina by 17.5 points
- Next up: The winner of the South Carolina-Maryland game plays either No. 2 Duke or No. 3 UNC in an Elite Eight game on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, ESPN)
South Carolina ‘prepped’ for NCAA setting
Going by the final AP Top 25 poll before the NCAA Tournament, Maryland is South Carolina’s first ranked opponent during March Madness. No biggie.
Friday’s game against the Terps (No. 18) will be USC’s 16th game against an AP-ranked opponent this season, which will tie the 2017-18 team for the most such games in program history. South Carolina is 12-3 against ranked teams this season, with losses to UCLA, Texas and UConn (all of whom are No. 1 or No. 2 seeds).
Staley said that’s by design.
“We manufacture our schedule, so in the end, like now and in March and April, we’re prepped for styles of play,” she said, adding of her South Carolina tenure: ”It’s what we’ve done. … It’s what we’ve wanted to do for my entire career.”
USC already gets a test in the SEC, which sent 10 of its 16 teams to the NCAA Tournament and has six teams in the Sweet 16 round, the most of any conference.
The Gamecocks added to that with another loaded non-conference schedule featuring a home game against UConn; true road games at UCLA and TCU; and neutral-site games against N.C. State in Charlotte and Iowa State in Florida.
The goal, Staley said, is experiencing a lot of different play styles from the jump, so prepping for a team such as Maryland, from the Big Ten, is a little simpler down the line. Staley’s scouting report of this year’s Terps team?
“They will shoot the 3-ball,” Staley said. “They will drive it down your throats. They have some bigs that can command the paint. … They get up and down the floor. They want the game in the 80s and 90s and 100s if they can.”
Terps operating on ‘little rest’ but ready to roll
As a top 4 seed, Maryland got the luxury of playing first- and second-round games at its home arena in College Park.
Outside of that, though, the Terrapins haven’t had much time to relax.
USC, as the No. 2 overall seed in the bracket, got the preferable Friday-Sunday game split and an additional day of rest heading into the Sweet 16. Maryland, meanwhile, got the Saturday-Monday game split … and played a triple overtime game.
The Terrapins beat No. 5 Alabama 111-108 in a triple-overtime thriller Monday night. The game lasted nearly three hours, and Maryland had multiple starters play nearly the entire game (two players were at 49 minutes and 50 minutes).
Then they were off to Alabama.
“Little to no rest,” Maryland coach Brenda Frese said. “A lot has been going on.”
South Carolina is favored to win Friday’s game by nearly 18 points and has a 92.9% chance of winning, per ESPN analytics.
But the Gamecocks had a slow start vs. Indiana in the round of 32 — and Maryland also played USC close for a good portion of their 2023 Elite Eight game. There are some holdovers on the roster from that year’s Terrapins team.
“I think we can make them work,” Maryland guard Shyanne Sellers said Thursday, adding that “at the end of the day, it’s going to come down to who wants it more.”
South Carolina vs. Maryland game notes
USC coach Dawn Staley is 7-4 in Sweet 16 games at South Carolina (.636)
The Gamecocks are seeking their fifth consecutive Elite Eight appearance
South Carolina has four players averaging 10 or more points and eight players averaging six or more points in the postseason so far (five games)
Maryland has beaten six ranked teams this season, the highest being No. 11 Duke
Sellers, the Terrapins’ starting point guard, is the first player in Maryland program history to record 1,500 career points, 500 career rebounds and 500 career assists
This story was originally published March 27, 2025 at 4:50 PM.
