Exactly one year after their unexpected departure from the NCAA Tournament at the hands of Syracuse, the South Carolina women's basketball team finds itself in the Sweet 16 once again. This time 12th-seeded Quinnipiac stands between them and the Elite Eight, as the Bobcats were able to knock off fourth-seeded Miami in dramatic fashion en route to their first Sweet 16 appearance ever.
Coming into the Sweet 16 matchup, South Carolina can take comfort in the fact that Alisha Gray will be able to play in the game. The Gamecocks, who were already lacking depth with Alaina Coates ruled out for the remainder of the season with an ankle injury, saw Gray go down late in the game against Arizona State. She was able to practice with the team this week though, and coach Dawn Staley has announced that she will play Saturday.
"She's gonna go," said Staley on Gray's outlook for Saturday's game. "She's not gonna let this opportunity pass her by. It wasn't her knee, so that was the great news about it."
That is huge for the Gamecocks, since Gray is a solid third option of offense that helps relieve much of the scoring pressure that has been pushed upon Kayla Davis and A’ja Wilson in Coates’ absence. She also has been a force upon the boards, recording eight rebounds against the Sun Devils in the round of 32 and 12 rebounds over UNC Asheville in the previous game. With Coates out, it will be instrumental that Gray continues to be a viable third option on offense and a force on the boards for the Gamecocks.
Yet more so than that, this game will be decided by South Carolina’s ability to defend the three-point line. Quinnipiac owes much of its Sweet 16 appearance to the three ball, as it went 15-26 from behind the arc to pull off the upset over Miami. This three-point barrage was led by Morgan Manz, who scored 22 points on six three pointers off the bench for the Bobcats. If this hot shooting continues, no matter how well South Carolina plays on the offensive end, it will be hard to beat the Bobcats.
“You know they can shoot it from outside, the three,” said Staley on Quinnipiac. “We gotta make them two-us. We gotta make them put the ball on the floor. We gotta stay in between them and the basket. We gotta rebound the basketball.”
Dawn Staley was quick to dispel the theory that due to their high seed, Quinnipiac was going to be an easy game, saying “At this stage of the game, everybody’s a threat. It’s just 16 teams left and the ones that are supposed to be here are here and we are just going to approach it as any other team.”
The game between South Carolina and Quinnipiac will take place Saturday at 4 p.m. in Stockton, California. Whichever team wins will face the winner of sixth-seeded Florida State and second-seeded Oregon State in the Elite 8 on March 27.