Women’s basketball: South Carolina, Iowa, USC and Texas chosen as No. 1 seeds

Dawn Staley and South Carolina could see some familiar faces on their path to trying to finish off an undefeated season.

The Gamecocks, who are the No. 1 overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament, are looking to become the 10th women’s basketball team to go unbeaten for an entire season.

South Carolina’s region includes No. 2 seed Notre Dame, with Anna DeWolfe of Cumberland, and fourth-seeded Indiana, led by Gorham’s Mackenzie Holmes. Oregon State is the No. 3 seed.

They had a chance last season before falling just short against Caitlin Clark and Iowa in the Final Four. The Hawkeyes received the other No. 1 seed in the Albany Regional. The two teams wouldn’t face off until the national championship game this time. Iowa is a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1992.

USC and star freshman JuJu Watkins earned the Trojans’ first No. 1 seed since 1986 as the top choice in the Portland Regional. Texas earned the fourth No. 1 seed, its first since 2004, and will play Drexel in the other half of the Portland Regional. There was debate whether Texas or Stanford would get the fourth No. 1 seed.

“To say we talked about it more than once was an understatement,” said NCAA selection committee Chair Lisa Peterson. “What it came down to was Texas had to play three tournament teams to get to the (Big 12) championship.”

South Carolina center Kamilla Cardoso has led her team to a 32-0 record going into the NCAA Tournament. The Gamecocks are the No. 1 seed in a region that includes Notre Dame and Indiana. Nell Redmond/Associated Press

Staley’s squad has been challenged a few times this year, including needing a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from Kamilla Cardoso to win the semifinals of the SEC Tournament over Tennessee, but the Gamecocks have always pulled through. A No. 1 seed for the fourth consecutive year, South Carolina will play the winner of Sacred Heart and Presbyterian in the first round of the tournament.

“I always feel good to be the No. 1 overall seed and to be undefeated,” Staley said. “I’m excited because we get a chance to know what our path is to win the national championship and, all great teams, a lot of familiar faces that are in our region. But we have to take it one game at a time and that’s what we’ll do on Friday.”

Cardoso will miss the opening game after getting ejected for fighting in the SEC title game. The Gamecocks would have her back for a potential second-round matchup against North Carolina or Michigan State. South Carolina beat the Tar Heels earlier in the season.

“Fortunately for us, it’s someone we played without for four games this season,” Staley said. “We know we’re a better basketball team when Kamilla Cardoso is in the lineup.”

Clark, who became the NCAA’s all-time leading scorer this year, is trying to win her first title. The Hawkeyes open against the winner of Holy Cross and Tennessee Martin. Joining the Hawkeyes in their region are No. 2 UCLA, defending champion and third-seeded LSU, and fourth-seeded Kansas State.

The other top teams in USC’s bracket are Ohio State, UConn and Virginia Tech. The Huskies were the last team to go undefeated in a season, running through the 2015-16 season.

Texas could have to contend with No. 2 Stanford, No. 3 North Carolina State and fourth-seeded Gonzaga.

The NCAA changed its format last season and is having two regional sites for the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds. Albany, New York, and Portland, Oregon, are the hosts. Once again, the top four teams in each region will host the opening two rounds.

The tournament begins Wednesday with two First Four games. The full schedule starts with 16 games Friday and 16 more the next day. The Final Four will be played in Cleveland this year for the first time since 2007. The national semifinals are on April 5, with the championship game two days later.

Tennessee continued its streak of appearing in all 42 NCAA Tournaments. Presbyterian, California Baptist, Columbia and Texas A&M-Corpus Christi are all making their first appearance.

The Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference both have eight teams in the field. The Big Ten, Pac-12 and Big 12 each have seven. The Big East has three teams, and the West Coast Conference and Ivy League each have two. It’s the second time the Ivy League has gotten an at-large bid.