South Carolina women's basketball: Sweet 16 Early preview and notebook

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• Round Two in Round Three

UCLA led Oklahoma by 18 in the first half, trailed by four late in the third, and then comfortably won 82-73. Charisma Osborne scored 13 of her career-high 36 points in the fourth quarter, despite injuring her ankle when she stepped on a photographer’s camera.

UCLA could be inconsistent this season, with a three-game losing streak in late January, a win over Stanford in the Pac-12 tournament, but two losses to Washington State, including the tournament final.

South Carolina and UCLA met back in November in Columbia. UCLA gave South Carolina all it could handle for three quarters, but the Gamecocks pulled away in the fourth. 

In that game, UCLA had no answer for Aliyah Boston (18 points, 10 rebounds) and Kamilla Cardoso (16 points, nine rebounds) in the paint, despite the Bruins’ double-teams. Kierra Fletcher had 12 points and 10 rebounds as UCLA repeatedly left her open.

UCLA will probably have to try something different defensively this time, plus South Carolina has a wild card: a healthy Raven Johnson. Johnson played just four minutes in the last meeting and had not yet come into her own.

Read the game story HERE.

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• The SEC was underrated

Even before Ole Miss toppled #1 Stanford, it was obvious the SEC didn’t get enough credit. LSU and Tennessee cruised to the Sweet 16, Mississippi State almost joined them despite starting with the play-in game, and Georgia gave Iowa fits. Even Alabama should have won its first round game.

Why didn’t the SEC get enough credit? I have two theories. 

One: because everyone’s focus has been on South Carolina’s quest to go undefeated when opponents played the Gamecocks close we tended to look at it in terms of what South Carolina didn’t do, not what the other team did.

Two: As a whole, the SEC’s non-conference schedule was weak. LSU got most of the criticism for weak scheduling, but other than South Carolina and Tennessee, there weren’t a lot of marquee games (Ole Miss did play Utah, but nobody knew at the time how good both teams would be).

And why has the SEC been so good in the tournament? That’s easy: Defense. Offense makes SportsCenter, but defense wins games, especially in the tournament. Every one of the SEC teams that made the tournament plays defense, especially that group of Ole Miss, Georgia, and Mississippi State.

It also helped that they play South Carolina. Once you’ve faced the Gamecocks, especially at Colonial Life Arena, you won’t be intimidated by anything.

• The Big 12 was overrated

Six Big 12 teams made the tournament: #4 Texas, #5 Oklahoma, #5 Iowa State, #7 Baylor, #8 Oklahoma State, and #10 West Virginia. Some pundits thought the low seeds showed a lack of respect for the Big 12.

Three Big 12 teams lost in the first round. The other three lost in the second round. 

#4 Texas’ loss was particularly embarrassing. The Longhorns were blown out at home by Louisville, a team few thought deserved a 5 seed, 73-51. It’s the second time in three seasons Texas has been routed to end its season, following the 62-34 loss to South Carolina in 2021 when the Longhorns failed to score a single point in the fourth quarter. 

Unlike the SEC, there’s not really a clear reason the Big 12 was overrated. Maybe we should have paid more attention when they kept losing to each other. 

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• Sweet 16 … again

Making the Sweet 16 has become so commonplace for the Gamecocks that it was almost an afterthought Sunday. It’s worth a second look at the numbers, though.

This is South Carolina’s ninth consecutive trip to the Sweet 16, dating back to the 2014 tournament (the 2020 tournament was canceled). Even the 2019 squad made the Sweet 16. It is the tenth Sweet 16 under Dawn Staley and the 13th in program history.

It almost seems like just another part of the schedule at this point: the season starts, the conference play starts, then the SEC tournament, then the first two rounds, and now the NCAA tournament really starts with the Sweet 16.

Stanford and Indiana’s losses, the first time since 1998 that two number ones have lost before the Sweet 16, are reminders that it isn’t actually automatic to make it this far.

• Around the bracket

The bottom half of the Greenville 1 region is chalk, which might be one of the biggest surprises in the tournament. #2 Maryland plays #3 Notre Dame, who is without star point guard Olivia Miles. Few people thought the Irish could get this far without Miles. 

Greenville 2 got a lot more interesting with Miami’s upset of Indiana. The Canes play #4 Villanova. While #2 Utah plays #3 LSU. The Tigers hope this visit to Bon Secours Wellness Arena goes better than the last, which included an indoor rain delay and blown 17-point lead.

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