No. 1 seed South Carolina women’s basketball is facing No. 4 seed Oklahoma in Sacramento in the Sweet 16 on Saturday.

It’ll be the second-straight rematch of a regular-season game in the NCAA Tournament for Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks. Last week, South Carolina had to beat No. 9 seed Southern Cal in order to advance to a 12th straight Sweet 16. This week, the Gamecocks will have to beat the Sooners in order to advance to the Elite Eight.

South Carolina and Southern Cal being a rematch wasn’t as much of a storyline as it will be for Saturday’s game against the Sooners. That’s simply because the Gamecocks beat the Trojans back in November.

But this weekend, it will certainly be a major storyline. South Carolina has lost just three games this season, two of them to Texas.

The other loss? A 94-82 overtime loss to Oklahoma on the road.

Revenge game for the Gamecocks?

South Carolina isn’t using the loss to the Sooners in Norman as fuel for the March Madness rematch. Staley made that clear when speaking to the media Friday.

“We’re not motivated by ‘we’re avenging a loss.’ We’re motivated by advancing,” Staley said. “It’s not like, ‘Oh, they beat us last time, let us do this or that. It’s survive and advance. It is to have more points than they do at the end of the 40 minutes or however long it takes.”

Staley’s message is the same throughout the Gamecocks’ locker room, South Carolina veteran point guard Raven Johnson said.

“We all see it in the same way. Honestly, she told us in practice what she said here,” Johnson said. “I think, you know, it’s not really about getting a lick back. I mean, we just gotta come here and do what we do, play to a standard that we know we can play and bring our practice habits to the game. So I think it’s all about advancing and beating the team that’s in front of you.”

USC star forward Joyce Edwards, who had 12 points and five rebounds vs. Oklahoma in January, feels like South Carolina is a different team since the loss.

“I feel like we grew so much from that loss that you usually don’t get from wins,” Edwards said. “We really got exposed that game. I feel like we improved so much as a team, we’re way more together. The revenge factor is definitely there, I can definitely see how the people (are) gonna twist it that way. But at the end of the day, it’s just about getting to the next round.”

While they won’t use the game as an extra chip on their shoulders, the Gamecocks will still be able to utilize the loss in their preparation.

“The things that we were kind of lapsing; just transition defense and our offense, rebounding the ball, stopping the ball,” guard Maddy McDaniel said “Being aware of what (Oklahoma is) doing on offense, when they’re shooting, when they’re not, when they’re cutting, and all things like that.”

South Carolina is coming off two big wins in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. The Gamecocks scored more than 100 points in both wins over No. 16 seed Southern and No. 9 seed Southern Cal. Despite the easy wins, freshman guard Agot Makeer said the Gamecocks still have room for improvement and are motivated to get back on the court and play again.

“I think there’s always stuff you can work on, no matter how much you win by,” Makeer said. “I feel like boxing out and rebounding is a big emphasis, because Oklahoma does that very well, and they spread the floor. So I think we got tested in both games, actually, on rebounding.”

A key matchup in the rematch

The battle in the paint will be a key factor in Saturday’s game, The matchup between centers Madina Okot and Raegan Beers will be a major part of how the Sweet 16 game plays out.

Beers and the Sooners won the duel back in January. Oklahoma out-rebounded South Carolina 54-39 (+15), something that rarely happens to Staley and the Gamecocks.

“They’re one of the standards in women’s basketball,” Beers said. “So I think it’s really cool. And we have the standard at Oklahoma because of the experience we’ve had in the tournament for last year and this year. … We’ve got a lot of work to do obviously tomorrow to be able to handle them. But we’re a good team, too.”

Beers, an All-SEC and All-American talent this year, tallied 14 points and led Okoahoma with 18 rebounds (six offensive) in the January matchup.

“She’s so good around the rim and in the paint, and she’s so good defensively grabbing the ball,” Okot said of Beers.

Okot struggled in South Carolina’s loss to Oklahoma earlier this season. She finished with just six points and four rebounds. That mark tied the fewest points Okot had scored to that point in the season and is her second-worst rebounding total this season.

Okot was moved to the bench for three games after the loss to Oklahoma but finished the end of the season on a heater, with nine double-doubles in her final 12 games. Her production in the paint will be crucial to the Gamecocks on Saturday.

“She is a phenomenal rebounder, offensive rebounder specifically,” Beers said of Okot. “She gets in there, so we have to be able to focus on that, obviously. And then she’s a threat on the block. And that girl can score. So it’s going to be really important obviously, to keep her as far away from the basket as possible tomorrow.”

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