TAMPA, FLA. – No. 2/2 South Carolina will face No. 3/3 UConn in the NCAA National Championship game on Sun., April 6, at 3 p.m. on ABC. The game is a rematch of their regular season meeting and of the 2022 NCAA National Championship game.

Gamecock Notables

• South Carolina is playing in its fourth National Championship game since 2017, and those four appearances are more than any other team over the last 10 tournaments. Head Coach Dawn Staley is just the seventh head coach to bring a team to the final game of the season at least four times in their career.

• The Gamecocks’ depth has shown up big in the NCAA Tournament with seven players averaging at least 7.0 points per game, including five shooting at least 50.0 percent from the field. A different Gamecock has led the team in scoring in each tournament contest, and the five games have had three different rebound leaders. Defensively, South Carolinas 6.0 blocks per NCAA Tournament game include 3.8 per game by the Gamecock guards.

• South Carolina is 30-0 when tying or out-rebounding its opponent this season, including 10-0 against ranked teams.

• The Gamecocks have scored 52.7 percent of their points this season in the paint, out-pacing opponents in that space by 16.1 points per game, including 12.2 per NCAA Tournament game and 8.8 per game against ranked opponents.

• Senior Bree Hall has been willing the Gamecocks to victory on both sides of the ball this NCAA Tournament, adding 7.6 points per game on 56.0 percent shooting, including 8-of-12 3-point shooting, to her defensive effort on every opponent’s most dynamic scorer. She is the team’s top 3-point shooter by volume and efficiency in the tournament.

• Freshman Joyce Edwards shook off a pair of tough outings in the Birmingham 2 Regional to become the first player in the last 25 years to come off the bench to add at least 10 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in an NCAA Tournament game. Her 13 points, team-high 11 rebounds and career-best six assists included eight, seven and four, respectively, in the first half to help the Gamecocks overcome an early deficit against the Longhorns.

• Junior Chloe Kitts continues to lead the Gamecocks in scoring and rebounding in the NCAA Tournament with 11.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per outing.

• With her assist on Bree Hall’s fourth-quarter layup, redshirt-junior Raven Johnson moved into the program’s all-time top 10 in career assists at 409 in just 113 career games.

By the Numbers
13 –This game is the Gamecocks’ 13th against a top-10 team this season..

19 –Of the Gamecocks’ 30 blocks in the NCAA Tournament, 19 have been by guards.

The UConn Series
The Gamecocks are 5-10 all-time against the Huskies, including a 1-1 mark in NCAA Tournament meetings, with four of South Carolina’s victories coming in the last five meetings.

UConn claimed the regular-season meeting between the two with an 87-58 victory in Columbia on Feb. 16 behind scorching outside shooting, hitting 13-of-28 from 3-point range and a 48-29 edge in rebounding.

The two teams last met in the NCAA Tournament in the 2022 National Championship game with the Gamecocks posting a 64-49 victory in Minneapolis to claim their second title. South Carolina jumped out to a 22-8 lead after the first quarter and held off the Huskies down the stretch. Five players from that game are on this year’s rosters, including Gamecock seniors Bree Hall and Sania Feagin.

Bench Mob
Head coach Dawn Staley’s 13-player roster gives her the ability to make a full line change with little drop off.

This season, the Gamecock bench leads the nation with 40.5 points per game – nearly 10 points more than the second-place team – to account for 50.8 percent of the total offense, which rises to 57.3 percent of the offense (34.8 ppg) against ranked opponents and 72.9 percent (42.3 ppg) in SEC play. The South Carolina bench has out-scored its opponents’ bench by 25.1 points per game, including 18.7 against ranked teams and 24.1 in SEC play. The bench has outscored the opponent’s starting lineup 18 times, including five ranked teams, and outscored the entire opposing team nine times.

The group set an NCAA Tournament record with 66 bench points in the Gamecocks’ tournament opener against Tennessee Tech (Mar. 21).

On the glass, the bench averages 15.5 rebounds per game (41.0 percent of team total) compared to just 8.5 rebounds per game for their opponents’ bench.

Glass Work
South Carolina continues to show a full team rebounding effort, ranking 15th in the nation with 42.1 rebounds per game and 15th in rebounding margin (+7.9).

South Carolina’s 38.5 offensive rebounding percent is 15th in the nation, according to CBBanalytics.com, and their 13.71 offensive boards per game are 38th. The Gamecocks are 16th in the nation in second-chance points, averaging 13.8 on the season, meaning they score 1.01 points per offensive board.

Five Gamecocks average at least four boards on the season with junior Chloe Kitts leading the way at 7.76 to rank ninth in the SEC. Junior Ashlyn Watkins is second with 6.07, and freshman Joyce Edwards is next at 5.0. Sania Feagin rounds out the forwards with 4.58 per game, and Raven Johnson leads the guards with 4.39.

Block Party
South Carolina annually ranks among the best shot blocking teams in the country, and, with every Gamecock recording at least one block this season, they are continuing the tradition. Even without a dominant center and the loss of top shot blocker Ashlyn Watkins to injury, the Gamecocks are seventh in the nation with 5.8 blocks per game, including 2.29 per game from guards.

SEC All-Defensive Team selection Sania Feagin is sixth in the SEC with a team-high 1.53 blocks per game, including 2.06 in SEC play, which ranked second the league. MiLaysia Fulwiley was the league’s top shot-blocking guard in conference play, ranking 10th with 0.94 blocks per SEC game.

In the NCAA Tournament, Fulwiley matches Feagin for the team lead with seven. Starting guards Raven Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao are next in line with five each over the last five games.