SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) 鈥� Dawn Staley doesn’t see South Carolina’s rematch against Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 as a chance to avenge the Gamecocks’ lone regular-season Southeastern Conference loss this season.
To Staley, it’s just a chance for the top-seeded team in Sacramento Region 4 to get back to the Elite Eight. The teams will play Saturday before third-seeded TCU faces No. 10 seed Virginia in
鈥淲e鈥檙e not motivated by we鈥檙e avenging a loss. We鈥檙e motivated by advancing,鈥� Staley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not like, oh, they beat us last time, let us do this or that. It鈥檚 survive and advance. It is to have more points than they do at the end of the 40 minutes or however long it takes.鈥�
South Carolina . Sooners freshman Aaliyah Chavez scored 15 points in the extra period.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think we tweak from what we didn鈥檛 do last time,鈥� Staley said. 鈥淚 think we tweak from where we want to play in a tournament and the things that we need to do to stay organized.鈥�
The Gamecocks have been a mainstay in the Sweet 16, advancing to six of the past eight Final Fours and winning three national championships during that stretch. The Sooners are trying to advance to a regional final for the first time since the 2009-10 season. That was Oklahoma’s last trip to the Final Four.
鈥淲hat I think about South Carolina is that you don鈥檛 get just this year鈥檚 team. You get the history of South Carolina. You get their experience that鈥檚 unmatched,鈥� Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. 鈥淵ou get a Raven Johnson that has had any and every kind of experience in that leadership. You get a Tessa Johnson who has done nothing but hit huge shots over and over and over again. And then you add a Ta鈥橬iya Latson into that mix, that鈥檚 a different guard, that鈥檚 a playmaking guard.鈥�
Virginia is the newcomer to this round; the Cavaliers reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. The Cavaliers, who are the first double-digit seed to reach the regional semifinals since 2022, pulled off the upset of the tournament, on the road in double overtime in the second round. They became the first First Four team to advance this far.
Virginia will face a TCU team that is trying to advance to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season. The Horned Frogs rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Washington in overtime in the second round. TCU is led by
鈥淭hey are just old veterans who have been in so many big-time battles,鈥� TCU coach Mark Campbell said. 鈥淭hat’s their asset going into this game. They don’t want their journey to end.鈥�
Staley is a proud Wahoo
Staley 鈥� who led Virginia to three straight Final Fours as a player during the program’s heyday 鈥� was proud to see the Cavaliers in the regional.
鈥淚鈥檝e spoken to Coach (Amaka Agugua-Hamilton) a few times. I always send her a text to congratulate her. I think I went to U-Va. over the Christmas break and got a chance to sit and chat with her, and just letting her know she鈥檚 done a great job,鈥� Staley said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e back to our glory days at U-Va.鈥�
Agugua-Hamilton was one of the Black coaches to whom Staley sent a piece of South Carolina’s championship net from the 2017 title. Agugua-Hamilton was at Missouri State at the time and still keeps the net on her desk.
鈥淚 have tremendous respect for her and everything she鈥檚 done, in her career and just done for the game and elevated our game, and brought more notoriety to it,” Agugua-Hamilton said. “But yeah, I mean, I knew her before I got to U-Va., but I would say we became friends once I got here.鈥�
Oklahoma and TCU have familiarity with Sacramento
Oklahoma played an early-season game at Golden 1 Center against UCLA, which is the No. 1 seed in Sacramento Region 2. The Sooners lost, but gained some familiarity with the area.
鈥淒o I think it helped us playing a UCLA in November here? Absolutely,鈥� Baranczyk said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that can hurt you. I think when you鈥檙e playing against great teams, it exposes you early and you have to learn and you fall down.鈥�
Baranczyk said her daughter Jordi, who was celebrating her 12th birthday, traveled with the team in November and was excited to be back in the area.
TCU’s Campbell, meanwhile, got his first head coaching chance at Sacramento State. He coached there for two seasons, guiding the team to a program-record 25 wins and its first NCAA appearance in 2022-23.
鈥淭his week is so special because of our time at Sac State,鈥� Campbell said.
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