Sneakers, Class, and a Date With the No. 1 Seed: Southern’s Lady Jaguars Are Headed to Colonial Life Arena
COLUMBIA, S.C. — They came in as a No. 16 seed fighting for survival. They’re leaving as the team that gets to wake up Saturday morning knowing Dawn Staley is waiting for them.
Southern University’s Lady Jaguars punched their ticket to the first round of the 2026 NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Thursday night, defeating fellow No. 16 seed Samford 65-53 in a First Four battle played right in South Carolina’s backyard at Colonial Life Arena. The win marks Southern’s second-ever NCAA Tournament victory — and earned them what is perhaps the most daunting assignment any team can receive in March: a date with the No. 1 seed South Carolina Gamecocks, Saturday at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.
How Southern Won It
The game was far from a runaway. Southern and Samford were tied at 44-44 going into the final 10 minutes — a tense, evenly-matched battle that could have gone either way well into the fourth quarter. Samford even closed to within six points — 59-53 — with just over two minutes remaining after a midrange jumper from Briana Rivera ended a nearly five-minute scoreless stretch for the Bulldogs.
But then Southern’s defense took over completely. The Lady Jaguars closed the game by outscoring Samford 14-2 over the final seven minutes, as the Bulldogs could barely score in the final six minutes of the fourth quarter while Southern maintained their shooting touch.
Jaylia Reed and DeMya Porter each led Southern with 15 points, with Porter also grabbing 12 rebounds — a double-double performance that proved decisive when the game was at its most contested. Samford’s Briana Rivera led the Bulldogs with 16 points, but her team shot just 36 percent from the floor, including a difficult 8-of-27 from three-point range.
A Program Built for This Moment
Southern’s appearance in the First Four wasn’t an accident. The Lady Jaguars are dancing for the second straight year and the third time in the last four seasons, having repeated as SWAC Tournament champions after finishing the regular season in third place with a 12-6 conference record.
Last year, when Southern was also a First Four team, they earned their bid with a win over UC San Diego before suffering a blowout loss to No. 1 seed UCLA in the first round. This year, the program arrives in the same position — but with a year of tournament experience behind them and, as Thursday night showed, a defense capable of shutting opponents down when the moment demands it.
Dawn Staley’s Gesture That Said Everything
What made Thursday evening truly memorable — beyond the basketball — was what happened after the final buzzer.
Dawn Staley, the No. 1 seed whose program Southern will face on Saturday, was present at Colonial Life Arena to watch the First Four game. And in a moment that speaks directly to who she is beyond the sideline, Staley went out of her way to congratulate the Lady Jaguars — gifting them sneakers and delivering words of encouragement that stopped the room.
“Well good luck to you all, you play the game like you love the game, that’s a beautiful thing to see,” Staley told the Southern team. “I’ve been watching for the last couple of days, okay? Just do what — continue to do what you do best. Y’all do attack that paint, it’s a really good thing. Paint and point guard are really good. So just go out there and execute and play to your best ability and when you lose a draw, hold your heads up high, because you’ve already made a lot of people proud.”
It was a remarkable gesture — a sitting No. 1 seed, with a national championship in her crosshairs, pausing to honor the spirit and effort of the team she’s about to face. No dismissiveness. No posturing. Just genuine recognition of what Southern has accomplished and an honest acknowledgment of the basketball they’ve shown.
That is the culture Staley has built. And it doesn’t stop at the South Carolina locker room door.
What Saturday Means
For Southern, Saturday represents the ultimate test — No. 1 seed South Carolina, playing at home, in front of a crowd that has seen the Gamecocks go 21-2 in NCAA Tournament games at Colonial Life Arena. By any objective measure, the Lady Jaguars are massive underdogs.
But they’ve been here before, and they know how to win a First Four game. They closed Samford out with one of the most dominant defensive stretches of the tournament so far. They have players who can attack the paint — something Staley herself acknowledged and specifically praised.
The sneakers are a gift. Saturday is a challenge. And Southern’s Lady Jaguars, 2-for-2 in the First Four, arrive at Colonial Life Arena with nothing to lose and everything to prove.
Dawn Staley will be ready. But then again — so will they.
