South Carolina women's basketball vs Oregon State prediction in Elite 8: Who advances to Final Four?

ALBANY, N.Y. – For the fourth straight season, South Carolina women's basketball is Elite Eight bound.

The No. 1-seed Gamecocks (35-0) will face No. 3-seeded Oregon State (27-7) on Sunday (1 p.m., ABC) at MVP Arena.

The Sweet 16 was closer than expected for South Carolina as No. 4 Indiana made a near-historic comeback, but the Gamecocks held off the late rally for a 79-75 victory on Friday.

The Beavers beat No. 2 Notre Dame 70-65 despite 26 turnovers. They rolled past Eastern Washington and Nebraska in the first two rounds.

South Carolina and Oregon State have played just three times, with the Gamecocks winning twice, including the most recent matchup in 2021.

Here's what you need to know about the matchup.

Oregon State has its own All-American forward

The Beavers have an All-American forward of their own to match South Carolina's Kamilla Cardoso in sophomore Raegan Beers.

Beers, who leads Oregon State with 17.5 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, picked up second-team All-American honors from Sporting News. Beers helped the Beavers dominate the boards in the win over the Fighting Irish, grabbing 13 rebounds on top of her 18 points.

Beers' 66.4% shooting from the field leads the nation.

Beavers have other scoring options to spread the floor out

If South Carolina can slow down Beers, it will then have to handle sophomore forward Timea Gardiner and junior guard Talia von Oelhoffen.

Gardiner started just eight games this season but is averaging 15.4 points per game over her last seven appearances, all starts. She scored 21 points to lead the Beavers against Notre Dame. Gardiner is second on the team in scoring, while von Oelhoffen is third at 10.8 points per game.

Oregon State has beaten top teams in brutal Pac-12

Knocking off the No. 2 seed in Notre Dame isn't Oregon State's only win against top competition this season. Amid a brutal Pac-12 slate, the Beavers picked up wins over No. 2 seed UCLA, No. 5 Colorado twice and No. 5 Utah twice. They also battled No. 1 seed USC to a two-point loss on the road.

The Pac-12 placed five teams in the Sweet 16 in the conference's final season. Oregon State finished in fourth in the conference.

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South Carolina prediction vs Oregon State: March Madness Elite Eight

South Carolina 81, Oregon State 74: If South Carolina can push the pace, it will be able to control the tempo of the game in the way it prefers. South Carolina has fast guards like sophomore Raven Johnson and freshman MiLaysia Fulwiley who can keep the Gamecocks moving. South Carolina should be ready to roll.