South Carolina Tops NCAA Women’s Tournament Field
When the 68-team field for the NCAA Division I women’s basketball tournament was announced Sunday night, the least surprising selection was the No. 1 overall seed: South Carolina. The Gamecocks, who are also the reigning champion, will anchor a portion of the bracket that has its regional in nearby Greenville, South Carolina.
The 2023 tournament will formally open Wednesday when the first play-in games will be contested. The round of 64, which the top 16 seeds will host, starts Friday. Indiana, Virginia Tech and Stanford earned No. 1 seeds alongside South Carolina.
Led by forward Aliyah Boston, who could win her second consecutive national player of the year award, and fiery coach Dawn Staley, South Carolina (32-0) has been the best team in Division I all season. Last week, the Gamecocks capped off their first undefeated regular season in program history with a seventh Southeastern Conference Tournament title, and they will begin their NCAA Tournament run Friday against No. 16 seed Norfolk State.
But South Carolina hasn’t bulldozed through all its opponents to achieve its perfect record. There have been close calls against two teams it may see during the NCAA Tournament: No. 2 seed Connecticut and Stanford.
Earlier this season, Stanford was in position to beat South Carolina or send the game into a second overtime.
Then, Stanford forward Kiki Iriafen called a timeout when her team was out of them. That resulted in a technical foul, and South Carolina made two free throws to effectively end the game.
Boston erupted in the second half for 23 points and South Carolina came away with the win.
“We don’t need a loss to make a push,” Staley said earlier this season. “Last year, did we need it? Maybe. I don’t know. But it happened. And it was a push that helped us.”
For much of the past two decades, UConn has dominated the sport, winning 10 titles since 2000 and, at one point, 111 straight games. But UConn hasn’t won a championship since 2016 and lost in a title game for the first time last year to South Carolina.