STOCKTON, Calif. Her chill playlist, as South Carolina point guard Tyasha Harris dubs it, is full of rapper Drakes more emotional tracks along with the likes of Lupe Fiasco and Eminem.

She pauses for a second to rack her brain, then remembers.

Oh, and some Chris Brown, Harris says. I listen to slow, chill music to calm my nerves.

The routine started around her freshman year of high school in Noblesville, Ind. Harris said she would have one set of music to relax her on the bus ahead of any given game, then another one full of hype music to get her going during pregame warm-ups. Five years later, almost the exact same playlist still blasts through her headphones before every game, and Saturday will be no different.

Thrust into a starting role midway through the season, the freshman point guard is in unchartered territory as the No. 1 seed Gamecocks take on No. 12 seed Quinnipiac at Stockton Arena in the women's NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.

Unable to control the ebbs and flows of the tournament or how others around her might perform, the one thing Harris can control is how she spends her downtime. And while the Gamecocks wait for Saturday afternoon, Harris has made it a point to spend hers doing things she finds relaxing.

I dont watch Netflix. I dont know what (my teammates) are watching, but Im just really watching all the NCAA Tournaments, the boys and the girls. (Friday) night there were a lot of good ones. The Michigan game and then West Virginia, that game, and then definitely the Arizona-Xavier game because I know a person who plays on the Xavier team, Trevon Bluiett, Harris said.

We watched the whole tournament on TV and laid down and chilled and then some of us went downstairs to play ping-pong (at the team hotel) for a little bit, too. So that was fun.

Harris has played in all 33 of USC's games in some capacity this season, starting in 23 of them, which marks a first for USC coach Dawn Staley.

In 16 previous seasons as a head coach, Staley never elected to have a freshman start at the point guard position. After Christmas break this season, she changed her mind.

We got back and coach sat us down before practice and was like, Were going to make some changes. Were just going to clarify everybodys role so we can know what were going to do, and kinda just told the team, thats when she named me as starting point guard, Harris said.

I still think Bianca Cuevas-Moore is still our starting point guard, just that shes now a spark off the bench. She helps me throughout everything. She teaches me stuff in practice and stuff like that if I dont understand anything, shell help me through that. So its an amazing feeling. They all help me and they all have trust in me, so it just gives me confidence.

So far, Staleys decision has paid off. While teammate Allisha Gray said Friday she wants to see Harris (5.3 points per game) become more of a scoring threat, its clear Harriss youth has not been a factor as South Carolina presses on. Harris was recently named to the SECs All-Freshman team and ranks ninth in assists for the conference despite not starting for nearly a third of the season.

To date, she has 109 assists to 52 turnovers, averaging 25.8 minutes per game. Against Arizona State in the round of 32, Harris admitted her nerves got to her down the stretch she even missed a pair of free throws but with more time comes more comfort. Staley hopes that holds up when the Gamecocks (29-4) play Quinnipiac (29-6) at 4 p.m. Saturday.

Ty's been calm, cool and collected all season long. She's a point guard that's probably far beyond her years. She's got a great approach to the game. She's just composed, Staley said. When you've played as many games and you've started as many games as she has in our league; she's battle tested. This stage, I don't think this stage will faze her. She will approach it the same way. Hopefully she'll continue to have the success that she's had.

Follow Grace Raynor on Twitter @gmraynor.

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South Carolina freshman point guard Tyasha Harris 'calm, cool, collected' as Gamecocks face Quinnipiac in NCAA's ... - Charleston Post Courier