The South Carolina Gamecocks women’s basketball team has secured a spot in the SEC Conference Tournament championship game after a commanding 93-75 victory over the Oklahoma Sooners on Saturday. The Gamecocks will face the winner of the highly anticipated matchup between No. 9 ranked LSU and No. 1 ranked Texas, who they edged out for the SEC Tournament’s top seed after a coin toss. The final will take place on Sunday.
Head coach Dawn Staley and her team have established themselves as one of the premier squads in the country. However, with three regular-season losses—the most by any of Staley’s teams since the 2020-21 season—their No. 1 seed status in the NCAA Tournament still appears to be uncertain, especially if they fall short in the SEC Tournament.
Nonetheless, Staley made a strong case for why the Gamecocks deserve a No. 1 seed during a post-game interview on ESPN.
“It’s not us. It’s the NCAA Selection Committee that has to decide,” Staley said, according to an X post from Chaz R. Frazier of ABC Columbia. “We play the best schedule in the country, we had the toughest schedule. Did we have a bad game against Connecticut? Sure. But don’t discount what we did all season long. Don’t do that. It ain’t that time to do that.”
Staley continued, emphasizing the strength of the Gamecocks’ schedule: “We go out and we play the toughest schedule, manufactured so we can get a No. 1 seed, if not the overall No. 1 seed. So we put ourselves in a position by getting to the [SEC Tournament] finals, and hopefully whatever team ends up winning [the Texas vs. LSU] game, we can solidify our No. 1 seed.”
Shortly after, ESPN bracketologist Charlie Creme weighed in, reassuring Staley, saying, “Coach, your 1 seed is solidified. Don’t worry about it. Get a good night’s sleep, try to win tomorrow’s game, but it won’t matter whether you win tomorrow’s game as far as the No. 1 seed thing goes.”
Staley delivered a final message to the NCAA Selection Committee, stating, “Did we have a bad game vs. Connecticut? Sure. But don’t discount what we did all season long.”
