Gamecocks Get #1 Seed In South Dakota Region
By Sports Department - Tim Hill
COLUMBIA, S.C. (WOLO) — For the third straight season USC women’s basketball earned a #1 seed in the NCAA tournament. The road to the Gamecocks’ second straight Final Four runs through South Dakota.
Monday night the NCAA awarded Carolina the top seed in the Sioux Falls, South Dakota region. USC will host the first two rounds of the tournament at the Colonial Life Arena. The Gamecocks play a first round game against #16 seed Jacksonville 7:30 p.m. Friday on ESPN2. It will be Jacksonville’s first ever NCAA tournament game.
#8 George Washington and #9 Kansas State is the other first round match-up in Columbia. The winners of the first round games will advance for a chance to travel to Sioux Falls.
UConn, Notre Dame and Baylor also earned top seeds in this year’s tournament field. The Huskies are trying to win their fourth national championship in a row.
“I think it is UConn’s tournament to lose,” USC coach Dawn Staley said. “But I know the young ladies I represent like their chances.”
The SEC tied a tournament record with nine teams in the field.
Duke, North Carolina and a Florida Gulf Coast team that had a 28-5 record are teams that are notably absent from this year’s 64-team tournament that tips off Friday.
