The Daily Gamecock

A new day: South Carolina looks ahead to Virginia in second round

"I'm excited to be moving to the second round after seeing what happened around the basketball world, so let's get started." 

That was the mood of head coach Dawn Staley on Saturday as she and the South Carolina women's basketball team looked ahead to their second round matchup against Virginia in the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks came out firing against North Carolina A&T on Friday, but got a little too comfortable as the Aggies started to fight back in the second half. Despite sloppy play, the Gamecocks were able to get the 63-52 win and advance to the second round. 

The Gamecocks were not pleased with their performance on Friday and know they need to play better on Sunday if they want to head up to Albany. Staley described the game as disappointing, but said on Saturday that she's just happy to get the chance for her team to play again. 

"Seeing what happened to some men and some women in the NCAA Tournament, I'm happy. I'm happy to be alive," Staley said. "I just didn't have enough time to decompress from the game and how we played but you got to put a different perspective on it when you're prepping for another team and seeing who won't be participating anymore in the 2018 NCAA Tournament, so that's a mood changer right there."  

No. 2 South Carolina will be taking on No. 10 Virginia after the Cavaliers got the 68-62 win over Cal in the first round. This is the sixth time these two teams will meet, with the most recent meeting being in 2007 and the Cavaliers lead the series 3-2. Staley played for Virginia from 1989-1992 and is the most accomplished and decorated player in Virginia basketball history. Even though she has ties tot he program, Staley said there's no emotion from her side and this is just another tournament game for her. 

"No. It doesn't. It's the NCAA Tournament. It's another game," Staley said. "Another opportunity to advance to the next level to the second weekend in the tournament. Obviously, it's my alma mater. Nothing will be better than to get a win and advance."

One huge advantage for Virginia will be its height. Center Felicia Aiyeotan is 6-9, a solid four inches over A'ja Wilson, making her the tallest active player in NCAA women's basketball currently. Aiyeotan uses her size to her advantage and leads the ACC in blocked shots and is 10th in rebounding. 

South Carolina saw a little bit of similar competition in Teaira McCowan from Mississippi State, who is 6-7.  Staley said it is good that her team has seen a little bit of what they're going to get on Sunday in regards to the height competition. 

Aiyeotan is just one piece of a talented Virginia team that can once again make South Carolina work. Doniyah Cliney gave credit to the skills she saw in the Cavaliers during Friday's game. 

"They're very aggressive, they really attack the basket and get up any kind of shot, they have a couple of good three point shooters as well," Cliney said. "They have a lot of pieces to their team."

The Cavaliers have offensive pieces that can get them ahead early. They had five players score in double-digits on Friday, with Aiyeotan leading the team with 16 points. They also only had six turnovers, while they forced 15. 

Turnovers were a huge issue for South Carolina on Friday night. The Gamecocks committed 19 turnovers, something that the Aggies were really able to capitalize on. Staley said a big thing for them going up against the Cavaliers will be limiting those turnovers and turning them into opportunities. 

"It's something that has kept people around in the basketball game. I think if we can turn half of our turnovers to just opportunities to score, not even make, just opportunities, it creates more opportunities for us to rebound the basketball, which we do fairly well," Staley said. "And if we can get A'ja Wilson a few more opportunities to score, Alexis [Jennings] a few more opportunities to score in the paint, that can be a difference maker. So we definitely have to take better care of the ball." 

South Carolina and Virginia tip off at 9 p.m. on Sunday with a trip to the Sweet 16 on the line. Despite the late start, Staley hopes their initiative to pack the arena will continue to round two and help give the Gamecocks the momentum they need to win.

"We've got to use our home court advantage to our advantage," Staley said. "Hopefully our crowd comes in there with all types of Gamecock pajamas on and cheering us on and giving us that extra energy like they gave us last night at the end of the fourth quarter that helped us secure the win." 


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