PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The NCAA women’s basketball tournament is down to the Elite 8.
One of Tuesday night’s games will feature Philadelphia native Dawn Staley’s South Carolina squad — the top seed in the Hemisfair Region — taking on Texas, with the winner advancing to the Final Four.
South Carolina is coming off a win over Georgia Tech that saw them play at a very high level, especially at the offensive end. Staley said they know they will have their work cut out for them against a Texas team that can defend.
“It’s going to be a difficult match,” she said. “I’ve always said because we’ve been in this position before, the Elite 8 game is the toughest game because that is the threshold that you have to get over to get to the Final Four. So how do we do it? We try to stay as fluid as possible offensively, just take the shots the defense is giving us, don’t over dribble, don’t over-pass.”
The game will be played in San Antonio, Texas.
“Playing in Texas against a hot Texas team at this point, does it create an advantage (for Texas)?” Staley asked. “I would say so. I mean, it’s a bus ride away for them and they’ll probably have a lot more people in the building cheering for them. For us, we’re going to get on social media to see how many Gamecocks in Texas can get to the game to even it out a little bit.”
Staley — who formerly coached the Temple University women’s basketball team — is looking to lead South Carolina to the Final Four for a third time as head coach.
South Carolina is 25-4 heading into Tuesday night. Texas is 21-9.
Tip-off is at 7 p.m.