South Carolina No. 1 overall seed in women’s NCAA tourney

WVU earns at-large bid to tournament

Dawn Staley has South Carolina women’s basketball six wins away from finishing off a historic season.

The Gamecocks are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go undefeated for an entire season as the they enter the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

Staley’s squad has been challenged a few times this year but has always pulled through. The defending national champions will play Norfolk State in the first round of the tournament, the NCAA selection committee revealed Sunday night.

“It didn’t take a loss for us to learn from the lessons of a close game,” Staley said. “Now we found ourselves in a position where we can’t afford to lose.”

While the Gamecocks, led by star Aliyah Boston, have been a lock to be the top seed for most of the season, several schools were vying for the other No. 1s, including Iowa, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Stanford and Utah. The Hawkeyes, led by electrifying guard Caitlin Clark, have been a top seed twice before, in 1988 and 1992.

The committee ultimately chose the Hoosiers, Hokies and Cardinal. Indiana and Virginia Tech are first-time No. 1 seeds. Stanford has been a top seed 13 times now, including in the last three tournaments.

The tournament begins Wednesday with two First Four games. The full madness starts with 16 games Friday and 16 more the next day.

WVU

West Virginia (19-11) is dancing in coach Dawn Plitzuweit’s first season leading the Mountaineer program.

WVU, a No. 10 seed, will face seventh-seeded Arizona (21-9) in a 7-10 matchup in College Park, Md., this Friday.

West Virginia, meanwhile, put together a strong regular season finish by winning its last three games against Kansas State, Oklahoma State and Baylor before falling to Oklahoma State in dramatic fashion in the Big 12 quarterfinals in Kansas City on Friday.

It is West Virginia’s 14th overall bid since 1989, and its sixth since joining the Big 12 in 2013.

The West Virginia-Arizona winner will face the Maryland-Holy Cross winner next Sunday.

Tip time, TV and ticket information for the women’s tournament will be released later.