Hoosiers draw The Big Dog in Sweet Sixteen.
4-seed Indiana women’s basketball is back in the Sweet Sixteen and will square off with top-overall seed 1-South Carolina tomorrow evening.
The winner will face the winner of 3-Oregon State/4-Notre Dame in the Albany 1 Regional Final Sunday.
Here’s everything you need to know about the game:
When is the game and how can I watch?
Game Date/Time: Friday, March 29th, 5:00 p.m. EST
Location: Times Union Center, Albany, New York
TV: ESPN
Radio: WHCC 105.1 / WIUX 99.1
Game Notes
4-Indiana earned its third Sweet Sixteen appearance in four years with a 75-68 win over Oklahoma in Assembly Hall, Monday.
Mackenzie Holmes took over late to will the Hoosiers past the Sooners and win her final game in SSAH.
You can read more about the win here.
1-South Carolina went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP poll en route to a perfect 29-0 regular season.
The thing you need to know about head coach Dawn Staley’s program is that it’s the best in all of college sports right now. The Gamecocks are a combined 105-3 over the last three seasons and are seeking their second national title in that span (2022).
Despite losing Aliyah Boston, Laeticia Amihere, Zia Cooke, Brea Beal and Victaria Saxton to the 2023 WNBA Draft the Gamecocks boast the nation’s second-best scoring offense (86.3 ppg) and field goal percentage (49.55).
6-7 senior Kamilla Cardoso dominates the paint while a bevvy of guards make SC’s offense incredibly versatile. Freshman MiLasia Fulwiley, who usually comes off the bench, could be the next big thing.
This is the second game all season in which the Hoosiers will be the “smaller” team on the floor. Stanford had their way with Indiana in November largely thanks to that disparity but given the Hoosiers’ above-average length at guard, they actually match up well against the Gamecocks.
3-point shooting is Indiana’s best shot at an upset here. Feeding Mackenzie Holmes in the post is going to be difficult and the offensive burden will likely fall on Yarden Garzon, Sydney Parrish and Sara Scalia getting hot from the perimeter.
South Carolina (2nd in NCAA, 39.75%) shoots the three just as well as Indiana (3rd, 39.60%), but daring the Gamecocks to chuck is probably the way to go here. It worked for Iowa in the Final Four last year and this Hoosiers team is better from deep than that Hawkeyes one.