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Who? The Lady Gamecocks of South Carolina.
What? They've been Gamecocks since the early 1900s. The current mascot is Cocky- with two mascot championships, it ain't bragging if you back it up.
Where? Columbia, South Carolina, which is apparently called Soda City. Sluuuuuuurp.
When? March 23rd, in Seattle, Washington.
Why? The SEC regular season champion tends to make the NCAA tournament.
How? They were an at-large selection.
Surprise? Predicted to finish fifth in the conference, they were the SEC's regular season champions.
RPI: 6
SOS: 26
Record: 24-8 (13-3 Southeastern)
Good wins: That win at Southern California looks mighty good right about now. (Plus I think that means South Carolina gets to use the USC moniker for a year. :P)
Bad losses: There's nothing too heinous here. North Carolina at the Carolinas Challenge might be worst.
Who's running this show? Dawn Staley, since 2008, Olympian, All-Star, and cutthroat spades player.
Extra, Extra! The State. This part of their site might require registration.
Sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell is the catalyst for the Gamecocks, with a team high 15.2 points and 3.5 assists per game, accompanied by close to two steals. She's got power on the inside to pass to in freshman center Alaina Coates (12.0 points on 62.9% shooting, 8.0 rebounds) and junior forward Aleighsa Welch (13.7 points on 57.2% shooting, 7.5 rebounds).
The Gamecocks (Gamehens?) are a strong defensive team, holding opponents to 55 points per game. The good news: they've improved their free throw shooting from last year! The bad news: they're aaaaaall the way up to 66.8%. As a team. This could be a problem.