NCAA South Carolina Basketball

A'ja Wilson and her South Carolina teammates practice at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., in preparation for their NCAA Tournament game against Buffalo on Saturday. Frank Franklin II/AP

ALBANY, N.Y. — South Carolina is playing a low-seeded team that pulled a couple of upsets to arrive at the Sweet 16.

Just like last year?

Erm, no.

The Gamecocks’ first opponent in the Albany Regional of the NCAA women's tournament is the Buffalo Bulls, a team that does resemble USC’s Sweet 16 opponent of a year ago — the Quinnipiac Bobcats. Both are Northeast schools, both play in a conference pronounced “Mack” (Buffalo is in the Mid-American MAC, Quinnipiac in the Metro Atlantic Athletic MAAC), both were double-digit seeds in the last two tournaments but stunned high seeds on their home floors to advance.

But Quinnipiac was a team that beat fifth-seeded Marquette and fourth-seeded Miami by a combined 10 points. USC certainly respected what the Bobcats had done but when they took the court in Stockton, Calif., the Gamecocks sent a 100-58 message that Cinderella’s tournament run was over long before midnight.

Last week, Buffalo thrashed South Florida, a top-25 team most of the year, 102-79. The Bulls tomahawked third-seed Florida State, 86-65, two days later.

The Gamecocks were wary of Quinnipiac but that game was over nearly before it started. This one, with USC down to its familiar nine-player team and the Bulls playing in their backyard?

“So they're a lot different makeup than Quinnipiac. But we're looking forward to it,” USC coach Dawn Staley said. “We're looking forward to the challenge. We're looking forward to playing them in somewhat of a homecourt advantage. It should be an exciting game.”

It’s not unrealistic to say that USC expected to be playing Florida State for the third time in four years. The storyline was already set — the Gamecocks’ two Final Four appearances in the past three seasons have each come at the Seminoles’ expense, so would a third time be the charm or a repeat?

Buffalo quickly absolved everyone of that notion, pounding Florida State with its relentless tempo and hitting nearly every shot it threw up. With Buffalo playing loose and with confidence, and with many Bulls fans able to travel and many others wanting to see the defending national champs lose, USC might be walking into a nor’easter that could send chills all the way to Columbia.

“I think Buffalo's a lot more aggressive. Any shot's a good shot to them,” South Carolina's A’ja Wilson said. “So that's kind of hard to defend because you never know when the ball's going to go in the air. So we have to be on our A-game and play our best game. We can't slack off at all because they are a lower seed.”

Staley broke down the systems. Quinnipiac was about its style, not relying on one person to be the sparkplug. Buffalo’s speed and scoring is set up by its two guards, Stephanie Reid and Cierra Dillard.

“I think Buffalo was more, probably, your traditional style, where they have their point guard running the show and distributing and facilitating and scoring. I think Buffalo has great guard play,” Staley said. “They play extremely well together. They make the extra pass. They know exactly where they want their shots to come from and they're just relentless in transition, going to the boards.”

For a USC team that’s struggled with turnovers against the press and built around a post presence in Wilson, it’s problematic. Buffalo enters Saturday's game with a feeling that it can do what Quinnipiac couldn't.

Follow David Cloninger on Twitter @DCPandC.

From Rock Hill, S.C., David Cloninger covers Gamecock sports. He will not rest until he owns every great film and song ever recorded. Want the inside scoop on Gamecock athletics? Subscribe to Gamecocks Now.

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