{"id":5503,"date":"2024-03-30T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-30T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/march-madness-gamecocks-beavers-preview-ef71d436eb9000a98dd660218f051d05\/"},"modified":"2024-03-30T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2024-03-30T00:00:00","slug":"march-madness-gamecocks-beavers-preview-ef71d436eb9000a98dd660218f051d05","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dwjqp1.com\/march-madness-gamecocks-beavers-preview-ef71d436eb9000a98dd660218f051d05\/","title":{"rendered":"South Carolina and Oregon State meet again in NCAA Tournament with trip to Final Four on the line"},"content":{"rendered":"
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 South Carolina was far from perfect in advancing to the Albany 1 Regional Final.<\/p>\n
At this time of year, it\u2019s about winning and that\u2019s something Dawn Staley\u2019s team has done every game this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, it\u2019s about just being able to play to the habits that you\u2019ve created all season long, and when they go haywire, you\u2019re just trying to, in real time, make adjustments. That\u2019s what it\u2019s about at this stage of the game,\u201d Staley said. \u201cSo not a whole lot of screaming and yelling. Just kind of showing them what we need to do. I think they know. I think this moment will allow them to just rely on those habits.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks (35-0), who nearly blew a 22-point lead before holding off Indiana<\/a> in the Sweet 16, are three wins away from completing the 10th undefeated season in women\u2019s NCAA Tournament history. Next up on Sunday is Oregon State, which advanced this far for the first time since 2018. <\/p>\n \u201cWe come in with the mentality like hey, we\u2019ve got to win because it\u2019s that part of the season where it\u2019s win or go home and I know we definitely don\u2019t want to go home,\u201d said Gamecocks guard Te-Hina Pao Pao.<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n READ MORE<\/p>\n Angel Reese records her 26th double-double of the season as LSU advances beating UCLA 78-69<\/a><\/p>\n Paige Bueckers leads UConn women into 28th Elite Eight as Huskies hold off Duke 53-45<\/a><\/p>\n JuJu Watkins scores 30, powers Southern California past Baylor 74-70 for spot in Elite Eight<\/a><\/p>\n Pao Pao is no stranger to Oregon State having started her career at rival Oregon before transferring to South Carolina this year.<\/p>\n \u201cI thought I escaped Oregon State coming to South Carolina. But it\u2019s going to be so much fun,\u201d she said. \u201cI have a really good relationship with Scott. His team is in the Pac-12. But I\u2019m very well known with them. … I just told them we\u2019ve got to lock in on defense tomorrow, and it\u2019s going to be a slow, methodical game, but at the same time we\u2019ve got to play our game and just speed them up.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n The Beavers know they have a tall task in front of them. They\u2019ve faced South Carolina three times over the last decade in the NCAA Tournament. Each time they\u2019ve come away with a loss.<\/p>\n \u201cAs you look at them, they\u2019re undefeated for a reason,\u201d Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. \u201cThere\u2019s not a lot of weakness out there. Very well-coached, experienced coach, and they\u2019ve got a little bit of everything.\u201d<\/p>\n Rueck knows that his team has to do a better job of taking care of the basketball. The Beavers committed a season-high 26 turnovers in the Sweet 16 win over Notre Dame<\/a>. <\/p>\n \u201cTurnovers were a problem for us yesterday, so we\u2019re going to have to take care of the ball and handle the pressure,\u201d Oregon State\u2019s Talia von Oelhoffen said. \u201cBut I think if we do that, we can get the shots we want, so it\u2019s going to come down to hitting shots.\u201d<\/p>\n The game within the game will take place inside the paint. South Carolina and Oregon State\u2019s Sweet 16 victories highlighted their big stars 6-foot-7 senior center Kamilla Cardoso and 6-4 sophomore forward Raegan Beers.<\/p>\n Cardoso, a dominant force all season, led the Gamecocks with 22 points, seven rebounds and three blocks against the Hoosiers and she\u2019s prepared to square off against Beers.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna be a great matchup,\u201d Cardoso said. \u201cI\u2019m excited. She\u2019s a great player, offensively, defensively. I just got to try and do my work early and box out, rebound.\u201d<\/p>\n Playing in the Pac-12, Beers isn\u2019t a stranger to battling bigs and compared her matchup with Cardoso to playing Stanford\u2019s veteran forward Cameron Brink, so she\u2019s up for the taller challenge.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, we can\u2019t go into her as much because she is 6-foot-7 tall, lengthy and can block your shot like no other,\u201d Beers said. \u201cFinishing up in a way like we have been against other tall post players in the Pac-12 is really important, especially tomorrow when I get some really phenomenal post-play. We are excited to figure out that challenge tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n The Beavers are pushing to get the backing of the country as they continue their push in the NCAA Tournament. Oregon State players put out a TikTok<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI just think this team is so incredible and so special,\u201d von Oelhoffen said. \u201cSo we might not have the big names in the commercials and TikTok stars yet. We\u2019re trying. … I think that\u2019s all that means is just we\u2019re America\u2019s team, we\u2019re selfless, we play together, we\u2019re a family, and that\u2019s a story, that\u2019s a headline that I can get behind and I think a lot of people should, too.\u201d<\/p>\n AP freelancer Spencer Ripchik contributed to this story.<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-womens-bracket\/<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) \u2014 South Carolina was far from perfect in advancing to the Albany 1 Regional Final. At this time of year, it\u2019s about winning and that\u2019s something Dawn Staley\u2019s team has done every game this season. \u201cAt this point, it\u2019s about just being able to play to the habits that you\u2019ve created all […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":5503,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[223,248,2749,249,2072,913,1039,2051,109,341,665,251],"yoast_head":"\n
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\n<\/a><\/p>\nBATTLE OF THE BIGS<\/h2>\n
AMERICA\u2019S TEAM?<\/h2>\n
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