CLEMSON — The Clemson women’s basketball team earned its first NCAA Tournament at-large bid in seven years on Sunday.

It was a moment the Tigers celebrated with friends and family after having a great season, a season in which they were awarded a No. 8 seed in a regional. However, it was also a shocking moment for head coach Shawn Poppie and the Tigers.

Why?

Because the Tigers are in the same bracket as the region’s No. 1 seed South Carolina, the No. 4 overall seed in the field. The Tigers will play No. 9 Southern Cal on Saturday at the Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, S.C. Should the Tigers win, they more than likely will play the Gamecocks in the second round.

“That was probably what was the most shocking,” Poppie said. “That probably puts us as the sixth best seed coming out of the ACC. They probably put a lot of weight on, we had a lot of road games. The Virginia game, Virginia Tech and Syracuse were all on the road. They credited us for our strength of schedule and some of the wins we did have.”

Clemson (21-11) lost to South Carolina on Nov. 11, 65-37. However, the Tigers trailed by just 10 points to the Gamecocks heading into the fourth quarter that night.