South Carolina women's basketball vs Norfolk State: March Madness scouting report, prediction

Emily Adams, Greenville News

March 16, 2023 at 5:05 AM·3 min read

COLUMBIA — As March Madness begins in earnest, South Carolina women's basketball is on a mission to win a second consecutive national championship.

The No. 1 Gamecocks (32-0) drew the top overall 1-seed in the Greenville 1 region. They kick off their NCAA Tournament with a first-round matchup against 16-seed Norfolk State (26-6) at Colonial Life Arena on Friday (2 p.m., ESPN).

South Carolina swept the SEC regular season and tournament titles, and they could become the 10th team in NCAA history to complete an undefeated season. If the Gamecocks go all the way to the title, it will become the fourth program to win consecutive championship joining Southern California, Tennessee and UConn.

Here's everything you need to know about the matchup against Norfolk State:

ALL-AMERICANS:South Carolina women's basketball seniors Aliyah Boston, Zia Cooke named AP All-Americans

SCOUTING THE BRACKET:March Madness: Scouting the path to the championship for South Carolina women's basketball

REPEAT CHAMPIONS:Why South Carolina women's basketball will — and won't — repeat as NCAA champion in March Madness

Norfolk State's historic season

Norfolk State has only been a Division I program since 1997 and reached the NCAA Tournament just once before as 16-seed in 2002. The Spartans beat Howard, the 2022 MEAC champion, 56-52 in the 2023 conference championship for the second time in program history to earn the automatic bid. They went 11-3 in the MEAC for the second consecutive season, and the team posted its best overall record since moving to Division I going 26-6.

The Spartans are led by Camille Downs and Kierra Wheeler, who average 11.9 and 11 points per game, respectively. Downs is also a star defender averaging 3.4 steals per game, while Wheeler leads the offense shooting 55% from the field and averaging 8.5 rebounds.

How Spartans fared vs. Power 5 teams

Norfolk State shares just one common opponent with the Gamecocks: Alabama, which drew a 10th-seed in the NCAA Tournament after finishing sixth in the SEC. The Spartans struggled badly on offense against the Crimson Tide in December, falling 92-30 behind 20.3% shooting from the field. Though South Carolina wasn't immune to Alabama's stingy defense, the Gamecocks still pulled out a convincing 65-52 victory in Tuscaloosa.

The Spartans also faced Penn State, which went 4-14 in the Big Ten, on the road Nov. 9. Penn State won 67-61, but Norfolk State outscored the Nittany Lions in the fourth quarter and had three players score in double digits.

Gamecocks' history in the first round

In 18 previous NCAA Tournament appearances, South Carolina has been eliminated in its first game just three times, and all three have been upsets. The last was in 1991, when the Gamecocks were upset as a No. 7 seed by 10th-seed Vanderbilt. They were also upset as a sixth seed by 11th-seed Tennessee Tech in 1989 and against as a No. 7 seed by 10th seed Middle Tennessee State in 1986.

South Carolina has appeared in the NCAA Tournament every year since 2012 under coach Dawn Staley. The Gamecocks have advanced to at least the Sweet 16 every year except for 2013, when they were upset as No. 4 seed by 12th-seed Kansas. In the history of the women's tournament, a 16th-seed has beaten a No. 1 seed just once: Harvard knocked off Stanford in 1998, becoming the first 16-seed to pull off a win in either the men's or women's tournament.

Prediction

South Carolina 92, Norfolk State 48: The Spartans struggled in their lone test against an SEC opponent, and the Gamecocks are in a different class entirely. They'll put this one away early and get the underclassmen some key minutes in their first NCAA Tournament.

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: March Madness: South Carolina basketball vs. Norfolk State prediction

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Norfolk State's historic season

How Spartans fared vs. Power 5 teams

Gamecocks' history in the first round

Prediction

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