South Carolina No. 1 overall seed in women’s NCAA tourney
Dawn Staley has South Carolina 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.
“We spent a lot of time on a variety of things, certainly the number one line and the right teams hosting,” selection committee chair Lisa Peterson said.
The tournament begins Wednesday with two First Four games. The full madness starts with 16 games Friday and 16 more the next day.
South Carolina may have the easiest path to the Final Four in Dallas as it won’t have to go far from home.
The Gamecocks, who are the 18th team to reach the NCAA tourney unbeaten, will play their first two games on campus before potentially heading 90 minutes away to Greenville, S.C., for one of the two regionals. The Gamecocks just won the Southeastern Conference tournament at that site.
“It’s great. When we got shipped out to Stockton (California, in 2017), we thought it was a drag, but we end up winning the national championship. So there are blessings in all types of situations,” Staley said. “We’re blessed that Greenville was a region. We’re blessed that we did enough to get sent to this region and we have to make it work for us. We know it won’t be easy.”
The NCAA changed its format this season and is having two regional sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. Greenville hosts one and Seattle the other. Once again the top four teams in each region will host the opening two rounds.