COLUMBIA, S.C. — Indiana women’s basketball is no stranger to going up against some of the best teams this season. It’s faced off with UCLA, USC twice, Ohio State and Maryland, but Sunday is different.
The Hoosiers are slated to take on the reigning national champions in the No. 1-seeded University of South Carolina at 3 p.m. inside Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina. The contest will be broadcast on ABC with Courtney Lyle and Carolyn Peck on the call.
The Cream and Crimson are coming off an 8-point victory over the No. 8-seeded University of Utah on Friday. The Hoosiers took control of the game in the third quarter and held on in the fourth to advance to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32.
Indiana enters the matchup as a 22.5-point underdog and has just a 4.5% probability of defeating South Carolina, according to ESPN.
Junior guard Shay Ciezki is “excited” about the Hoosiers being the largest underdog of the second round Sunday.
“To hear that we’re the underdogs, obviously it fuels us,” Ciezki told the Indiana Daily Student on Saturday. “We love it. We love being the ones that people count out — I think that’s where we thrive the most.”
Indiana was largely counted out in its matchup last season with South Carolina in the Sweet 16 in Albany, New York. The Hoosiers trailed by as many as 22 points before they stormed back to pull within 2 points; however, they fell by 4 points to end their season.
Get to know the Gamecocks
South Carolina opened its NCAA Tournament with a 60-point victory over Tennessee Tech University on Friday. Freshman forward Joyce Edwards scored a game-high 22 points while sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley added 15 points.
Edwards and Fulwiley, who both come off the bench for the Gamecocks, lead the team in scoring this season with 13.4 and 12.1 points per game, respectively. In last season’s game between the two squads, Fulwiley scored just 7 points while Edwards had yet to step foot on campus at South Carolina.
“I think one of the biggest differences from a year ago is I'm not sure that we've ever seen a bench that scores more than the starting five,” Indiana head coach Teri Moren said in a press conference Saturday. “Two leading scorers come off the bench. That's pretty unique.”
The loss of Kamilla Cardoso is another difference in the Gamecocks this season. The Chicago Sky selected the 6-foot-7 forward with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Despite South Carolina not possessing the same height advantage in the paint as it did a season ago, Edwards, junior forward Chloe Kitts and senior forward Sania Feagin still pose a problem for the Hoosiers.
“Where they really get you is the offensive rebounds,” Moren said. “We have to do our job, especially those two (senior forward Karoline Striplin and junior forward Lilly Meister) of keeping Feagin and Kitts and Joyce Edwards off the offensive glass.”
The Gamecocks ranked 28th in the country with 14.2 offensive rebounds per game this season. Conversely, the Hoosiers are 305th nationally in defensive rebounds with 33.1 per contest.
“We’re focusing on two big things: their transition offense, making sure that we get back and slow them down,” Ciezki said, “and their offensive rebounding, making sure that we get a body on everybody and limiting their second-chance points.”
About the environment
In the past four seasons, South Carolina has won all but one of its 67 games at Colonial Life Arena, which has a capacity of 18,000.
Similar to Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, which holds 17,222 fans, the Hoosiers will be tasked with playing in front of a raucous, likely sold-out crowd. This time, though, the fans won’t be on the Cream and Crimson’s side as they were in the Round of 32 last season, when the Hoosier faithful propelled Indiana to victory over the University of Oklahoma.
“We know it will be sold out and there will be like 15,000 people rooting against us,” graduate student guard Sydney Parrish said. “I think that's what makes March Madness really special.”
With a loss, the Hoosiers’ season — and graduate student guard Chloe Moore-McNeil, Striplin and Parrish’s careers — would come to an end.
“I think in the years past I always took pride in playing for them, playing for the upperclassmen,” Moore-McNeil said. “I hope these guys do the same for me.”
With a victory, Indiana would advance to Birmingham, Alabama, to play in the Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season. Despite ESPN giving the Hoosiers a low probability of upsetting the Gamecocks, Parrish said her squad is in a “position where anything can happen.”
Follow reporters Dalton James (@DaltonMJames) and Savannah Slone (@savrivers06) and columnist Ryan Canfield (@RyanCanfieldOnX) for updates throughout the Indiana women’s basketball season.
