South Carolina's Te-Hina Paopao makes her feelings known on the Gamecocks' chances of winning back-to-back national championships

Te-Hina Paopao and the South Carolina Gamecocks are set to begin their March Madness campaign on Friday. After winning the 2024 NCAA championship with an undefeated season run, the Gamecocks are the favorites to repeat their title run.

Paopao arrived in South Carolina as a senior after three seasons with the Oregon Ducks. After winning the championship, she chose to delay her WNBA transition, making use of the additional eligibility year. Going back-to-back is the goal for the team and the guard spoke about it in an interview on Thursday.

"To go back to back is gonna be the ultimate blessing," she said. "It's something that I've been looking forward to ever since I've been in college. But at the same time, you just gotta take one game at a time."

Paopao averaged 9.8 points, 2.8 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.0 steals. She played a crucial role as the veteran presence on the team, helping in defense.

Te-Hina Paopao prepares for her final games at the home arena

South Carolina earned the No. 1 seed in the Regional 2 Birmingham. The Gamecocks will host the first two rounds at the Colonial Life Arena and Te-Hina Paopao was asked about this after Selection Sunday.

"It's going to take a while for me to soak it all in, for sure," she said. "I'm really emotional that it's going to be my last few games here at CLA. They opened me up with welcoming arms and they've been the best fans in the nation.

"I'm just really fortunate to have them and we just got to balance that and know that we got you know two more games to play in front of them. But at the same time, we got to take that first game and just be excited to play in front of our fans again."

Te-Hina Paopao's South Carolina had an incredible 30-3 overall record and is coming off after winning the SEC Tournament championship. The Gamecocks first-round tip-off is against the No. 16 Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. They will take on the winners of the Indiana vs. Utah clash in the second round.