SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Facing one of the only two teams that beat it during the regular season, South Carolina doesn’t view its Sweet 16 matchup with Oklahoma as a revenge game.
“It’s not really about getting a lick back,” South Carolina senior Raven Johnson said.
The Sooners handed the Gamecocks an overtime loss in Norman back in January — a game that saw Oklahoma battle back from a seven-point halftime deficit, tie the game at regulation, and then dominate the extra period. Freshman Aaliyah Chavez had a breakout performance, scoring 15 of her 26 points in overtime, where the Sooners outscored the Gamecocks 19-7 overall.
“We’re not motivated by avenging a loss,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “We’re motivated by advancing. It’s not like, oh, they beat us last time, let us do this or that. It’s survive and advance.”
South Carolina has dominated its opponents through the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, scoring 100 points in both games. It’s the first time in program history the Gamecocks have scored more than 100 points in the same tournament.
“I don’t think we tweak from what we didn’t do the last time,” Staley said. “I think we tweak from where we want to play in a tournament and the things that we need to do to stay organized.”
Both South Carolina and Oklahoma said they watched film from their last matchup, but there’s an understanding that both teams feel they are different than where they were two months ago.
That January win ended a three-game skid for the Sooners. For them, that win was less about beating the beast that is South Carolina and more about what it signaled for their younger group.
“The emotion didn’t come from the win of a game. The emotion came because we’re a young team trying to navigate life together,” Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. “…That emotion was because of how we played. And when you play like that, then sometimes that scoreboard is on your side.”
Built around seniors Raegan Beers and Payton Verhulst, this Oklahoma group isn’t new, but the Sooners are learning how to play with their young point guard in Chavez.
“I was getting sped up at earlier in the game, but I ended up getting to be more myself,” Chavez told ESPN, reflecting on their first matchup of the year. “That game, I learned a lot about myself and about our team.”
Last year’s trip to the Sweet 16 was the Sooners’ first time past the second round of the tournament since 2013. Meanwhile, the Gamecocks have made it to this stage every year since 2014.
“They’re one of the standards in women’s basketball,” Beers said.
“You don’t get just this year’s team. You get the history of South Carolina. You get their experience that’s unmatched,” Baranczyk said. “They’re a team that’s used to the moment. And you never get to play this year’s team at this time; you’re playing a lot of history there.”
Representing more than just their current group is something the South Carolina players are reminded of nearly every day. It’s not something they talk about, but whether it’s walking by A’ja Wilson’s statue outside of the Colonial Life Arena on campus, seeing the championship banners hanging in the rafters, or seeing the number of former players who have become stars in the WNBA, it’s always present.
“We look at those and that kind of reminds us what the legacy that’s been here,” Johnson said. “We’re playing more than just for us.”
Sophomore Joyce Edwards added, “It’s not something I individually think about when playing because I just want to win, just like probably they did. But the culture and the expectation is there only because they paved the way for us to be in this position and to be a winning program.”
Even with all of that history, the Gamecocks try to stay grounded in the moment. They don’t want to reflect too much –whether that is the programs that preceded them, or games that they dropped like the one to Oklahoma.
And the Sooners are in the same boat. They know they are only facing this iteration of South Carolina — a team they have beaten before. But Saturday’s game is very different from the one they played back home in January.
“You can’t be scared,” Oklahoma junior forward Sahara Williams said of facing the Gamecocks. “They’re a really good team, but we’ve got to show up with the will to win and the mentality that you have to outwork everyone.”
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