Indiana, South Carolina have some tournament history
ALBANY — The South Carolina and Indiana women’s basketball teams, who will play Friday at MVP Arena in a regional semifinal of the NCAA tournament, have a bit of a history.
On Thanksgiving night in 2019, the Gamecocks and Hoosiers met in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Indiana shot 50 percent in a 71-57 victory that proved to be the only loss for South Carolina. The NCAAS weren’t held that season because of COVID-19.
“With me, it’s a vivid game that I remember, us losing in the Virgin Islands,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “They scored 20 (actually 24) fourth-quarter points. We scored six. Yikes!”
Mackenzie Holmes, a graduate forward and the Hoosiers’ leading scorer, is the only current player on either team who participated in that game. She had eight points and six rebounds.
“They’re completely different than they were in ’19 when we played them,” said Teri Moren, in her 10th season as the Indiana coach. “They’ve always been a very good defensive team. What they’ve added is shooters. When we played them in ’19, we played off the arc, tried to bottle up (6-foot-5 Aliyah) Boston as well as we could.
“She (Staley) has added some shooters, which has made them more difficult to guard. You really can’t sit in the paint and try to clog it up. You’ve got to respect Bree Hall and Tehina Paopao from the
outside.”
Not all was lost that night for South Carolina.
“We ended up winning that tournament in the Virgin Islands on points,” Staley said. “That was cool to do that in Aliyah’s hometown. We had an island party after that.”
A bitter Sweet 16
Five teams from the Pac-12 Conference are among the Sweet 16 in the women’s NCAA Tournament, but once they’re gone, so is the conference.
For the 2024-25 school year, Stanford is headed to the Atlantic Coast Conference. UCLA and
Southern Cal are bound for the Big Ten. Colorado is committed to the Big 12. Oregon State is headed to the West Coast Conference as an affiliate member, along with Washington State, the two teams that were left behind while the other Pac-12 teams joined other leagues.
“To me, it’s still surreal, being a West Coaster my whole life and to think that there’s no longer a Pac-anything,” said Scott Rueck, in his 14th season as Oregon State’s head coach. “When I was born it was the (Pac-)8, I lived as a student in the 10, and
then as a coach my first year in the Pac-10 and then 12. It’s just always been a thing. It’s still, I would say, surreal.”
Stanford and Southern Cal are playing in the Portland (Ore.) super regional. Oregon State opens up the Albany regional at 2:30 p.m. Friday against Notre Dame at MVP Arena.
All eyes on Hawkeyes
The second-round game that punched Iowa’s ticket to Albany — a closer-than-it-looks 6454 win over West Virginia on Monday night — drew 4.9 million viewers on
ESPN, the largest pre-final Four women’s tournament audience ever. The previous record was set two days earlier, when Iowa beat up on Holy Cross on ABC.
Look for Monday night’s record to be shortlived. The Saturday session at MVP Arena will be presented as an ABC doubleheader, with UCLA and defending national champion LSU meeting at 1 p.m., followed by Iowa’s matchup with fifth-seeded Colorado at 3:30 p.m.
Announcing schedule
Friday (ESPN): Pam Ward, Stephanie White, Holly Rowe (Notre Dameoregon State, 2:30 p.m.; South Carolina-indiana, 5 p.m.)
Saturday (ABC): Ryan Ruocco, Rebecca Lobo, Rowe (UCLA-LSU, 1 p.m.; Iowa-colorado, 3:30 p.m.)
Sunday (ABC): Ruocco, Lobo, Rowe (Friday’s winners, 1 p.m.)
Monday (ESPN): Ruocco, Lobo, Rowe (Saturday’s winners, 7 p.m.)