Nobody needs a reminder, but they’re getting one away.

Even though these Indiana Hoosiers are noticeably different from last year’s team, without all-time leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes after her graduation and meeting South Carolina a round earlier than 2024, the point stands.

It’s Indiana. Enough said.

“We got a taste of that in the last NCAA Tournament,” Dawn Staley said. “And we have that in mind. At the top of our minds.”

Last season in the sweet sixteen, South Carolina raced out to a 56-34 lead against Indiana. The Gamecocks were cruising, then everything almost fell apart. A furious Indiana rally trimmed the lead all the way down to two points in the final minute, only saved by a Raven Johnson 3-pointer to survive the rally and hang on for a 79-75 victory.

It is easy to call it old news, a game from last season or just acknowledge from a basketball perspective that the Xs and Os will look different this year with changed rosters.

All true. But the Gamecocks are taking a different approach before they meet Indiana at 3 p.m. ET Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.

“We just had a film session just a few minutes ago,” Staley said. And the first thing we discussed was what happened last year. [Assistant] coach [Lisa] Boyer asked what happened last year, and then they [players] had a mouthful. So that's what we discussed.”

The 2024-25 edition of Indiana does not have the go-to player down low like Holmes, but still poses a lot of challenges. Particularly from the outside, where the Hoosers rank 20th nationally in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.5 percent. That mark was third-best in the Big Ten, and Yarden Garzon was 25th in the country among all players in 3-point shooting percentage, making 41.2 percent of her attempts.

Any team capable of getting hot from 3-point range is dangerous, as the Gamecocks found out last season. Indiana hit seven 3-pointers in the second half of the game in Albany, the key to the comeback.

Of course, the flip side is any cold stretch could lead to a quick run. The Hoosiers live and die by the 3-point ball, this year more than ever without Holmes to dump the ball off to inside. But perimeter defense will be crucial in this game, particularly coming off screens where shooters could get a good look from beyond the arc.

“This year we have to be more disciplined,” guard Te-Hina Paopao said. “Just be able to keep the mindset that we got to stay in all 40 minutes and continue to be who we are.”

In a lot of ways, it resembles last year’s second round matchup. The Gamecocks ran into North Carolina, a team it struggled with mightily in the regular season before eking out a narrow win back in November. The Tar Heels had their attention in a way most opponents cannot grab it, an opponent this team knew was capable of playing close with or beating if the performance levels dropped.

South Carolina proceeded to open the game with maybe its best half of the entire season, locking in with 56 points in the first 20 minutes to blow out the Tar Heels and cruise into the sweet sixteen.

One year later, an eerily similar situation is on the horizon with a second-round game in Columbia against a team these players are all too familiar with.

Last year, the famous — and nearly infamous — moment was a dance coming out of halftime. The Gamecocks were cruising, did a ‘Macarena’ on the floor just before the second half started, and nearly coughed up the lead.

“We keep talking about the halftime dance routine we had with Raven [Johnson] and Kamilla [Cardoso] and we were up big in this game,” Paopao said.

They remember everything about last year. Including how close they were to elimination.