Dawn Staley and South Carolina could see some familiar faces on their path to an undefeated season.
The Gamecocks, named the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA tournament Sunday, are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go unbeaten for an entire season.
They had a chance last season before falling just short against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four. The Hawkeyes received the other No. 1 seed in the Albany Regional on Sunday. The two teams wouldn’t potentially face off until the national championship game this time. Iowa is a one-seed for the first time since 1992.
USC and star freshman JuJu Watkins earned the Trojans’ first No. 1 seed since 1986 as the top choice in a Portland Regional. Texas earned the fourth No. 1 seed, its first since 2004, and will play Drexel in the other Portland Regional opener. There was debate whether Texas or Stanford would get the fourth No. 1 seed.
“To say we talked about it more than once was an understatement,” NCAA selection committee chair Lisa Peterson said. “What it came down to was Texas had to play three tournament teams to get to the [Big 12] championship.”
Staley’s squad has been challenged a few times this season, including needing a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from
