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The first semifinal played Friday night
features four-time Naismith Coach of the Year Dawn Staley and
the Gamecocks shooting to improve to 37-0 and reach the national
championship game on Sunday. It's the fourth straight Final Four
trip for South Carolina despite losing every starter from last
year's team.
That's more than enough to warrant a bit of attention, but South
Carolina can't help but notice most of the media focus is on
Iowa, UConn and the All-American star power of Hawkeyes guard
Caitlin Clark and Huskies guard Paige Bueckers.
South Carolina's Bree Hall said players aren't discussing the
coverage in the locker room and are zeroed in on the next game,
but admitted she noticed the disparity in coverage tipping the
other direction.
"Yeah, I can't lie. I am a little bit," Hall said Thursday.
"Just because -- we all said this, we didn't know really what to
expect from our team. And just to see that we're back at the
Final Four, it's pretty amazing," she said.
Iowa knocked off South Carolina and snapped a 42-game winning
streak in a 77-73 upset at the 2023 Final Four in Dallas.
Staley has won at least 30 games in seven of the last 10 seasons
with five Final Four trips in the past eight tournaments. South
Carolina has a school-record 36 wins but the only thing Staley
is considering at the moment is the next one.
"You want to win. Your competitive juices are flowing," Staley
said of what changes for teams when they arrive at the Final
Four. "I mean, you can see the finish line. You can see it. You
can see it. For us, we could see it. And it's not disrespecting
the process or not disrespecting our opponent, but once you get
here, they can see it. NC State can see it. UConn can see it.
Iowa can see the end of the finish line. There's one and a
possible game left for all of us, and I want to win. I want to
win."
--Field Level Media
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