South Carolina Gamecocks
— Record: 36-0
— Seed: No. 1 (Greenville 1)
— Road to the Final Four: Defeated Norfolk State 72-40, defeated South Florida 76-45, defeated UCLA 59-43, defeated Maryland 86-75.
— Coach: Dawn Staley (402-105, 15th season at South Carolina; 574-185, 23rd season). As a player and coach, Staley has won pretty much everywhere. As a point guard at Virginia (1989-92), she led the Cavaliers to three Final Fours.
As a U.S. Olympian, Staley has three gold medals as a player and another as coach. After taking Temple to six NCAA Tournaments in eight years, Staley accepted the South Carolina job in 2008 and had the Gamecocks in the Sweet 16 four seasons later.
The first NCAA title came in 2017 in Dallas followed by another last season.
Asked about reaching another Final Four, Staley said: “You’ve got to get a little lucky, and you’ve got to get some players that really believe in it and that are unified, that really see honestly the bigger picture. That is rare nowadays because a lot of times young people only see themselves and what they want to accomplish.”
— About South Carolina: In a word, overwhelming. South Carolina enters the Final four on a major roll, having won 42 straight games.
Any game with a margin in single digits is a surprise. The Gamecocks’ average margin of victory in the tournament has been 22.3 points per game.
The winning formula is as simple as it is effective, combining size and skill with a disruptive defense. South Carolina is holding opponents to just nation-low 51.1 ppg and 31.7% shooting. Even getting a shot off is a challenge. The Gamecocks block about nine shots a game.
UCLA’s Camryn Brown summarized the South Carolina defense after a Sweet 16 loss: “Everything was rough. We couldn’t get on the same page. We were a little frantic out there. We were just trying to figure out what would work for us, and I don’t think we ever really got a rhythm together as a team for us to get the shots that we knew we wanted to take.”
Guard Zia Cooke (15.1 ppg) leads South Carolina in scoring followed by 6-5 Aliyah Boston (13.2 ppg, 9.8 rpg), the most prominent of a big, athletic front line. South Carolina also outrebounds opponents by more than 20 a game.
— Player to watch: Boston is one of two front-runners for national player of the year, along with Iowa’s Caitlin Clark. Although her numbers aren’t gaudy, she can rise to the occasion when South Carolina needs a boost.
In the regional finals, Boston put up 22 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a win over Maryland. She has now led South Carolina to three consecutive Final Fours and is seeking a second straight national title.
— Tournament history: South Carolina has been to 11 consecutive NCAA Tournaments under Staley, including five Final Fours and two national championships.
— Did you know: South Carolina’s last loss came against Kentucky, 64-62 in the finals of the 2022 SEC tournament.
— Notable former students: Singer Darius Rucker, actor Mike Colter, baseball Hall of Famer Wade Boggs, basketball player A’ja Wilson, and artist Jasper Johns.
