South Carolina women's basketball will face Southern Cal in the second round of the Women's NCAA Tournament on March 23. The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET and will be televised on ESPN, according to the program's announcement. The No. 1 seed Gamecocks, led by head coach Dawn Staley, defeated the No. 16 seed Southern 103-34 in their first-round matchup on March 21. The No. 9 Trojans, who advanced after a 71-67 overtime victory over No. 8 Clemson, will now face South Carolina in the Sacramento 4 Regional. A win on March 23 would position the Gamecocks to compete for the Sweet 16, Elite Eight, and ultimately a spot in the Final Four in Phoenix. The matchup marks the second meeting between the teams this season, following a November 15 game where South Carolina prevailed 69-52. JuJu Watkins, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2024 from Los Angeles, had narrowed her college choice to Southern Cal and South Carolina before ultimately selecting the latter. In her first two seasons, Watkins emerged as one of the nation’s top scorers, averaging 27.1 points as a freshman and 23.9 as a sophomore. However, her season was interrupted by a significant injury—she tore her ACL in a second-round March Madness game exactly one year prior. Despite being in Columbia with her team, Watkins will not play in the upcoming matchup. The injury occurred shortly before Southern Cal and South Carolina announced a bicoastal series of games for 2025 and 2026, titled “The Real SC.” The first game in the series took place in Los Angeles in November, and the second is set for November 15, 2026, at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville. This scheduling highlights the growing rivalry between the two programs, even as they remain on opposite sides of the bracket in the current tournament.#dawn_staley #bon_secours_wellness_arena #south_carolina_womens_basketball #southern_cal #juju_watkins
