How to watch South Dakota State women's basketball vs USC in NCAA Tournament
As a No. 9 seed in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament, the South Dakota State Jackrabbits will take on the No. 8-seeded University of Southern California Trojans in Virginia.
Southern California (21-9) will enter the tournament coming off a 56-48 loss to Oregon State in the first-round of the PAC-12 Conference Tournament.
The Jackrabbits (28-5) will be fresh off a dominant performance in the Summit League Tournament, where they downed Omaha 93-51 in the championship game – it was the program’s 10th conference tournament trophy.
The two programs have played each other twice, with South Dakota State taking the last meeting back in 2006 with a 67-63 win in Brookings.
More: SDSU women take Summit League championship once more, earn spot in NCAA Tournament
Here’s what to know before Friday’s opening game.
South Dakota State to appear in program's 11th NCAA Tournament
When the Jackrabbits take the court on Friday night in Virginia, it will have been more than 90 days since the team lost, which came at the hands of now top-overall seed in the tournament South Carolina on Dec. 15.
Since then, the Jackrabbits have enjoyed a 21-game winning streak with a perfect Summit League record.
For South Dakota State, it's last appearance at the Big Dance came back in 2021, when they were also a No. 9 seed, falling to Syracuse in 2021. As a program, the Jackrabbits are 4-10 all-time in the postseason tournament, with three of those wins coming in 2019 when the program reached the Sweet 16 before falling to Oregon. .
More:South Dakota State women's basketball draws USC in NCAA Tournament
Last season, the Jackrabbits appeared in the WNIT Tournament, where they took home the championship with an 82-50 win over Seton Hall in the final.
Southern California makes first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2014
This year marks the first year that Southern California has made the NCAA Tournament since 2014. The program has history of success at the tournament with a 29-14 record all-time, and two titles back in 1983 and 1984.
It'll be the program's 17th trip to the tournament.
The Trojans are led by second-year head coach Lindsay Gottlieb, who has led two other programs to the NCAA Tournament: UC Santa Barbara (2009) and California (seven appearances in eight years).
As a team, the Trojans are averaging 5.7 blocks per game, the sixth most in all of Division I.
The Trojans spent one week ranked nationally at No. 25, its first time in the AP rankings since 2016.While the program hasn't appeared in the tournament since 2014, they do bring some tournament experience with them in Kadi Sissoko (2019 Syracuse) and Koi Love (2022 Arizona) along with Destiny Littleton (2018, 2019 at Texas and 2021, 2022 at South Carolina).
What channel is South Dakota State women's basketball vs. USC on?
Tip between the Jackrabbits and Southern California is scheduled for 7 p.m. on ESPNews Friday. Broadcasters will be Angel Gray and Helen Williams.
The winner between the Jackrabbits and Trojans will take on the winner of No. 1 Virginia Tech and No. 16 Chattanooga. That second-round game is scheduled for March 19, with a time to be announced.
Tickets for the event are sold out.
This article originally appeared on Sioux Falls Argus Leader: How to watch South Dakota State women's basketball vs USC
