SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) \u2014 Dawn Staley doesn\u2019t see South Carolina\u2019s rematch against Oklahoma in the Sweet 16 as a chance to avenge the Gamecocks\u2019 lone regular-season Southeastern Conference loss this season.<\/p>\n
To Staley, it\u2019s just a chance for the top-seeded team in Sacramento Region 4 to get back to the Elite Eight. The teams will play Saturday before third-seeded TCU faces No. 10 seed Virginia in the women\u2019s NCAA Tournament.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re not motivated by we\u2019re avenging a loss. We\u2019re motivated by advancing,\u201d Staley said. \u201cIt\u2019s not like, oh, they beat us last time, let us do this or that. It\u2019s survive and advance. It is to have more points than they do at the end of the 40 minutes or however long it takes.\u201d<\/p>\n South Carolina lost 94-82 in overtime at Oklahoma on Jan. 22<\/a>. Sooners freshman Aaliyah Chavez scored 15 points in the extra period.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we tweak from what we didn\u2019t do last time,\u201d Staley said. \u201cI think we tweak from where we want to play in a tournament and the things that we need to do to stay organized.\u201d<\/p>\n The Gamecocks have been a mainstay in the Sweet 16, advancing to six of the past eight Final Fours and winning three national championships during that stretch. The Sooners are trying to advance to a regional final for the first time since the 2009-10 season. That was Oklahoma\u2019s last trip to the Final Four.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I think about South Carolina is that you don\u2019t get just this year\u2019s team. You get the history of South Carolina. You get their experience that\u2019s unmatched,\u201d Oklahoma coach Jennie Baranczyk said. \u201cYou get a Raven Johnson that has had any and every kind of experience in that leadership. You get a Tessa Johnson who has done nothing but hit huge shots over and over and over again. And then you add a Ta\u2019Niya Latson into that mix, that\u2019s a different guard, that\u2019s a playmaking guard.\u201d<\/p>\n Virginia is the newcomer to this round; the Cavaliers reached the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2000. The Cavaliers, who are the first double-digit seed to reach the regional semifinals since 2022, pulled off the upset of the tournament, knocking off No. 2 seed Iowa<\/a> on the road in double overtime in the second round. They became the first First Four team to advance this far.<\/p>\n Virginia will face a TCU team that is trying to advance to the Elite Eight for the second consecutive season. The Horned Frogs rallied from a 10-point deficit to beat Washington in overtime in the second round. TCU is led by Olivia Miles and Marta Suarez.<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThey are just old veterans who have been in so many big-time battles,\u201d TCU coach Mark Campbell said. \u201cThat\u2019s their asset going into this game. They don\u2019t want their journey to end.\u201d<\/p>\n Staley is a proud Wahoo<\/p>\n Staley \u2014 who led Virginia to three straight Final Fours as a player during the program\u2019s heyday \u2014 was proud to see the Cavaliers in the regional.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve spoken to Coach (Amaka Agugua-Hamilton) a few times. I always send her a text to congratulate her. I think I went to U-Va. over the Christmas break and got a chance to sit and chat with her, and just letting her know she\u2019s done a great job,\u201d Staley said. \u201cWe\u2019re back to our glory days at U-Va.\u201d<\/p>\n Agugua-Hamilton was one of the Black coaches to whom Staley sent a piece of South Carolina\u2019s championship net from the 2017 title. Agugua-Hamilton was at Missouri State at the time and still keeps the net on her desk.<\/p>\n \u201cI have tremendous respect for her and everything she\u2019s done, in her career and just done for the game and elevated our game, and brought more notoriety to it,\u201d Agugua-Hamilton said. \u201cBut yeah, I mean, I knew her before I got to U-Va., but I would say we became friends once I got here.\u201d<\/p>\n Oklahoma and TCU have familiarity with Sacramento<\/p>\n Oklahoma played an early-season game at Golden 1 Center against UCLA, which is the No. 1 seed in Sacramento Region 2. The Sooners lost, but gained some familiarity with the area.<\/p>\n \u201cDo I think it helped us playing a UCLA in November here? Absolutely,\u201d Baranczyk said. \u201cI don\u2019t think that can hurt you. I think when you\u2019re playing against great teams, it exposes you early and you have to learn and you fall down.\u201d<\/p>\n Baranczyk said her daughter Jordi, who was celebrating her 12th birthday, traveled with the team in November and was excited to be back in the area.<\/p>\n TCU\u2019s Campbell, meanwhile, got his first head coaching chance at Sacramento State. He coached there for two seasons, guiding the team to a program-record 25 wins and its first NCAA appearance in 2022-23.<\/p>\n \u201cThis week is so special because of our time at Sac State,\u201d Campbell said.<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n AP March Madness bracket: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ncaa-womens-bracket<\/a> and coverage: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/march-madness<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"SACRAMENTO, Calif. 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