March Madness Mix: Dominant Gamecocks amid Sweet 16 parity

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — South Carolina is keenlyaware that everyone remaining in the women’s NCAA Tournament fieldis coming after the undefeated Gamecocks — and hard.

That conviction has been boosted after two of the top four seedsin Indiana and Stanford were ousted — something that hasn’thappened since 1998. If they didn’t before, each of the Sweet 16teams believe they can knock out the defending national champions,no matter how dominant the Gamecocks have been.

It makes for good theater — which is good for the sport.

Rebecca Lobo, the former UConn star turned ESPN analyst, callsSouth Carolina’s dominance combined with Sweet 16 parity “aninteresting dichotomy.”

“It’s like parallel paths, you have this overwhelming favoriteto win it all, yet you have UConn losing to Marquette or Stanfordlosing in the second round,” she said. “It’s an interesting timefor women’s basketball.”

South Carolina with its 40 straight victories isn’t concernedabout history, ratings or if the Gamecocks’ drive for a secondstraight championship is good for the game.

“We’re just about basketball,” coach Dawn Staley says withadmiration. “We really are.”

Women’s basketball is thriving even with the Gamecocks’dominance in the midst of rarely seen tournament chaos. SouthCarolina’s four-team pod in Greenville, South Carolina, is allchalk. The top-seeded Gamecocks (34-0) play No. 4 seeded UCLA onSaturday with No. 2 seed Maryland taking on third-seeded NotreDame.

South Carolina has three-time All-American Aliyah Boston,high-scoring Zia Cooke and a bench full of players who could startfor most NCAA Tournament teams. That’s helped the Gamecocks show arelentless push toward a third straight Final Four.

If they run the table, South Carolina would be the 10thundefeated Division I women’s champion. The men have had just onein D-I: Indiana in 1976.

Analyst Debbie Antonelli believes women’s basketball fans lovethe new faces and schools still alive in this tournament. She isn’tsure how fans would react if the Gamecocks’ seemingly inevitablechampionship run gets derailed short of the national titlegame.

“As someone who cares about ratings, I’d be curious,” Antonellisaid.

South Carolina is trying to join an exclusive club. The nineundefeated champions hail from just four schools: Texas, UConn,Tennessee and Baylor:

— UConn, which has gone undefeated an unprecedented six times.In 1995, the Huskies went 35-0 with Lobo leading the way. UConnwent 39-0 in 2002, 2009 and 2010 with a slew of All-Americans,including Sue Bird, Diana Taurasi and Swin Cash. UConn followedthose title runs by going 40-0 in 2014 and 38-0 in 2016.

— Texas was the first perfect champion, going 34-0 in 1986.

— Tennessee finished 39-0 in 1998 with the three “Meeks” inChamique Holdsclaw, Tamika Catchings and Semeka Randall.

— Baylor and Brittney Griner went 40-0 in 2012.

Coaches and players say there are no shortcuts for goingundefeated.

Lobo, Jennifer Rizzotti and Kara Wolters anchored the 1995 UConnteam. There had only been one team prior to the Huskies asundefeated champions, so Lobo and her teammates never discussedthat possibility.

“It was fun winning, it was fun not losing, but I can honestlytell you the undefeated portion was not something we thoughtabout,” she said in a phone interview with The AssociatedPress.

Kellie Harper agrees. She was part of Pat Summitt’s Tennesseeteam that was the first to go 39-0.

Harper said coaches don’t enter seasons telling their players,“Let’s be perfect this year.” However, as the point guard on that1997-98 team, having star players can be a difference-maker.

“Going down the stretch with three All-Americans, that made myjob a lot easier,” Harper, now coaching her alma mater, said beforeadding, “but it gave me a lot of confidence that we can doanything.”

Staley’s not sure all undefeated seasons are created equal. Sherecalls other perfect runs celebrated more than her team’s currentstreak.

“My player, Aliyah Boston is not the one that’s being talkedabout on men’s games, OK? She’s not,” Staley said.

Iowa’s Caitlin Clark has taken some of the national attentionaway from the perfect Gamecocks with her barrage of long-rangejumpers and triple-doubles.

The Gamecocks have overcome several challenges this season.

They trailed by 10 through three quarters at Stanford lastNovember before pulling out a 76-71 win in overtime. UConn held an11-point first-half lead in February before South Carolina ralliedfor an 81-77 victory.

The Gamecocks advanced to their 10th Sweet 16 in 11 tournamentswith a 76-45 win over feisty South Florida, which trailed by just33-29 at the half. There was also an 64-57 overtime win at OleMiss, which knocked off Stanford.

Yes, there is pressure to stay perfect.

“But it’s also a lot of fun,” sophomore reserve Bree Hallsaid.

South Carolina’s experienced roster — including Boston, Cookeand fellow senior Brea Beal — knows what it takes to win. They’vestarted since their freshman year in 2020, when their first titlerun was canceled by COVID-19. South Carolina was No. 1 in therankings at 31-1 and on a 26-game win streak.

The Gamecocks will need that experience as the pressure ratchetsup.

In 1995, UConn’s two closest contests was a 67-63 win overVirginia in the Elite Eight and in the championship win, 70-64,over Tennessee.

Both UConn and Tennessee, that pesky Ole Miss squad and the restof the Sweet 16 field would welcome a shot at South Carolina —which is nothing new for the Gamecocks.

___

AP Sports Writer Teresa Walker in Knoxville, Tennessee,contributed to this report.