The Texas Longhorns women’s basketball team is over 1,100 miles away from their home arena.
The South Carolina Gamecocks, albeit closer to home, are still a little less than 500 miles from Colonial Life Arena.
But Texas’ Jordana Codio and South Carolina’s Chloe Kitts are back in their home state as both teams prepare for the Women’s Final Four on Friday. The Gamecocks and Longhorns, both the No. 1 seeds in their respective brackets, tip off at 7 p.m. at Amalie Arena.
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Codio is from Winter Garden – just a couple hours from the Final Four. A Monteverde Academy alum, Codio is averaging 1.3 points per game in 23 games. She’s been on the court for an average of 4.9 minutes a game.
Kitts, also in her junior season with the Gamecocks, hails from Oviedo. Part of a strong scoring core for South Carolina, Kitts is averaging 10.4 points per game in 36 games along with a team-high 7.9 rebounds. Kitts played high school ball at The Master’s Academy in Oviedo before transferring to DME Academy in Daytona Beach.
Chloe Kitts on how many people are asking her for Final Four tickets since it’s close to her home:
“A lot of people. But I only get 6 tickets so they have to find their own.”@GamecockWBB | @wachfox pic.twitter.com/6jVehAgKSm
“It’s a great opportunity. I’m super excited to be back home in the home state,” Codio said on Thursday during the Longhorns’ media availability. “It’s a great opportunity and a great experience for my whole team, and we’re all super excited. The weather is great. Everything’s great. So we’re really excited.”
Being closer to home, Codio noted that she does have family able to make the game. Her parents, along with her brothers — who goes to school in Fort Myers — will be in attendance on Friday.
“I feel like the location is obviously great. And I was super excited to obviously come back to Tampa,” Codio said. “But yeah, I mean, we got here, and I feel like that’s all that matters.”
Texas is in the Final Four for the first time since 2003, looking for its first national championship since 1986. South Carolina, on the other hand, is in the Final Four for the fifth consecutive season, looking for another national crown after winning in 2024.
The two SEC powers have faced off three times already this season. The Gamecocks have won two of the matchups, including the most recent one in the conference championship game on March 9.
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USA TODAY Sports contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Plenty of Florida flavor in Texas vs. South Carolina Final Four matchup tonight in Tampa
Reporting by Ben Grieco, Pensacola News Journal / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
