David vs. Goliath: How No. 16 seed Southern is preparing for South Carolina WBB
When senior guard D’Shantae Edwards and the rest of the Southern University women’s basketball team take the floor at Colonial Life Arena on Saturday, they’ll be facing nearly insurmountable odds.
The No. 16 seed Jaguars are matched up with Dawn Staley and her No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks in the first round of the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Odds and betting lines vary by source, but as of Friday, Southern is a 50-plus point underdog and has a 1% chance of winning at best.
So how does David prepare for what will most likely be an unwinnable matchup with Goliath? Like any other game, of course.
“They tie their shoes the same way we tie our shoes,” Edwards said. “We can compete.”
How is Southern preparing for the Gamecocks?
Southern enters Saturday’s first-round matchup with the Gamecocks fresh off a 65-53 win over Samford in the First Four. Southern, the back-to-back SWAC Tournament champion, is 20-13 on the year. Southern has made the NCAA Tournament three of the last four years.
“They deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament,” Staley said of Southern. “They played well enough to be here. It’s fortunate and unfortunate that somebody’s going to take a loss and fortunate that someone is going to win. I think the most important thing is just to enjoy the experience of playing in the tournament. A lot of teams aren’t in their position.”
The Jaguars are no strangers to high-major competition like South Carolina. This year alone, Southern played on the road at Iowa, Iowa State, Ole Miss, UCLA, Washington, Arizona, Houston and Baylor. Head coach Carlos Funchess led his team to wins over both Arizona and Houston.
Funchess said he can draw on those matchups — as well as his own NCAA Tournament experience from his playing days at Louisiana-Monroe — to help prepare his team for South Carolina.
“I think that although South Carolina is really, really athletic, that we have some extremely good athletes and that we can exploit some things that they don’t do as well defensively,” Funchess said. “That’s going to be the key. Of course they’re a great team, don’t get me wrong, but we played some really good teams this year in Iowa, UCLA, Iowa State. We’re used to being on the big stage.”
There’s a large mismatch between the two teams when it comes to size. South Carolina has nine players on its roster listed at 6 feet or taller and three who are 6-foot-5 or taller. Meanwhile, Southern has just four players who are 6 feet or taller.
Edwards, who is listed at 5-foot-7, said the Jaguars can’t be intimidated by the difference in length and will simply have to take what South Carolina gives them.
“Just because they’re long doesn’t mean they take every option away for scoring away,” Edwards said. “You just have to go in there with a mindset that some things going all the way to the basket may not be as normal as other games because every team has different-sized players. Every team has things they contribute, too. You just have to understand what they’re going to give you, and you have to manage the best play out of that.”
Sophomore guard Jocelyn Tate said the key will be for Southern to “work to our strengths” on Saturday against the Gamecocks. Funchess added that his staff plans to rewatch film of how South Carolina has played opponents who have a similar style of offense as Southern.
“They are a great defensive team and they pretty much negate everything that you get inside, all the easy buckets, all the offensive rebounds,” Funchess said. “We’re going to have to do some other things to try to get some good shots and knock them down, we have to make ‘em.”
South Carolina’s thoughts on Southern and its history vs. No. 16 seeds
This year marks the 10th time South Carolina has been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
The Gamecocks are 9-0 against No. 16 seeds in March Madness. That mark isn’t exactly a surprise given that there’s literally been one instance where a No. 16 seed has beaten a No. 1 seed in the tournament’s history (Harvard vs. Stanford in 1998).
South Carolina has beaten No. 16 seeds in the tournament by an average of 40.2 points over the years. The biggest win came last year when the Gamecocks beat Tennessee Tech by 60 points.
While No. 16 seeds have, historically speaking, had next to no luck beating a No. 1 seed, the Gamecocks know they still have to take their opponent seriously. Although it’s unlikely, the No. 16 seed can put up a fight — just look at No. 16 Sienna in the men’s NCAA Tournament, which took No. 1 seed Duke down to the wire before losing.
“We have to go and handle our business,” USC’s Ta’Niya Latson said. “Take care of the boards … play together as a team and go out there and win the game.”
A few South Carolina players said Southern’s aggressiveness stood out while they watched the Jaguars beat Samford on Thursday.
“Southern is a great defensive team,” South Carolina star Joyce Edwards said. “They have high energy, high motor, they’re scrappy. They’re gonna do all the intangibles. So we just have to minimize that. We have to play to our standard, no matter who we’re playing. And we just have to lock in and win the game.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 5:16 PM.
