South Carolina women’s basketball: Friday’s Final Four game against UConn isn’t about revenge

It’s not revenge, it’s a rematch. That’s what South Carolina said about Oklahoma in the Sweet 16, and it’s how they approach UConn on Friday.

Oklahoma handed South Carolina its only regular-season conference loss this year, but the Gamecocks refused to focus on revenge for their Sweet 16 game. It was, they insisted, just another game on their path to the Final Four. 

Last season, UConn beat South Carolina 82-59 in the national championship game in Tampa. That is a distant memory for this season’s team.

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“No, I wouldn’t say a chip on our shoulders,” Raven Johnson said. “It’s a whole new team. There are players that went through that. I think it probably motivates them to come back and try to beat them. I wouldn’t say chip on the shoulder. We have one goal, that’s to get to the national championship. They’re in our way of getting to the national championship. I think that’s how we’re thinking of it.”

Both teams have had significant turnover in the past year, which dampens the memory. Johnson is South Carolina’s only returning starter, and seniors Te-Hina Paopao, Sania Feagin, and Bree Hall are now in the WNBA (the other starter, Chloe Kitts, is out for the season due to injury).

UConn lost Paige Bueckers and Keitlyn Chen to the WNBA. Chen and Hall ended up being off-and-on teammates for the Golden State Valkyries. 

“I think this is a new South Carolina team we’re playing, a new UConn team playing,” said Azzi Fudd, the Most Outstanding Player from last year. “That experience playing them last year, playing in the Final Four last year, is helpful. “Again, this is a new team that we’re scouting and a new team that’s playing against them.

Because of the personnel changes, both teams have changed stylistically. South Carolina has gotten longer and more athletic, especially on the perimeter. There is less high-low action on offense, and role players have become stars.

UConn doesn’t play as much four-and five-out offense, and Sarah Strong has made the jump from supporting cast to star, winning all the major player of the year awards.

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“Obviously, this is a different South Carolina team than the one we played last year,” Geno Auriemma said. “Our two wins against them last year don’t really mean anything going into tomorrow. The way that game was played has no bearing on tomorrow. They have added some really key pieces. I think they’re a much better team than they were last year. Really hard to prepare for. They’ve shot the ball exceptionally well this year. They’ve added the size that is hard to match up with. Defensively, we have our challenges with them.”

Neither team is motivated by the last game. They are motivated by what is on the line this year.

“I just remember getting beat by 20, honestly,” Johnson said. “We got new players in. This is their first time experiencing the Final Four. I think Coach Staley, the other coaches, are doing a good job of keeping the main thing the main thing and keeping us ready when the moment is here.”

In a way only Raven Johnson could come up with, she described the Gamecocks’ thought process.

“It won’t matter if they were UConn, if they were Benedict,” she said, referring to Division II Benedict College in Columbia. “It don’t matter. They’re in our way.”