No.1 South Carolina dominates Texas to the Final Four



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Whenever Texas has attempted to come back, South Carolina has responded. No.1 seed Gamecocks handled all six seeds with ease in the Hemisfair area, 62-34, and advance to the Final Four. Texas did not score during the game’s final 12:30 p.m.

South Carolina, who finished the 2020 season as the nation’s No.1 team, face overall winner No.1 Stanford and No.2 Louisville.

South Carolina shuts down Texas in final quarter

South Carolina advanced with a balanced attack that included a near triple-double from Laeticia Amihere on the bench. She had 10 points on a 5 for 8 shot with nine blocks and eight rebounds. The young group got up early and retired late, never leaving Texas to smell back.

“That says they’re locked up,” Dawn Staley said of the final score. “Obviously we didn’t play perfect basketball. There are areas where we have to improve, otherwise we’re going to be shaken up. But super proud of our players. They were focused. They wanted to have it. opportunity to make it to the Final Four. They don’t know anything about what they just accomplished. “

Zia Cooke led all scorers with 16 points, six rebounds and three assists. Destanni Henderson had 12 points and seven assists. She was 2 for 3 of the lineup. Victaria Saxton added 12 points and eight rebounds. Aliyah Boston was held to 10 points on a 2 for 11 shot and eight rebounds against Texas center Charli Collier.

Brea Beal was the only starter limited to a single-digit score. She scored 1 of 3 field goals but added eight rebounds, two blocks and an assist.

The Gamecocks controlled the boards (47-33), doubled Texas in assists (14-7) and quadrupled them on blocks. They had 14 blocks as a team on 61 Longhorn shot attempts (22%). Texas didn’t score again after Audrey Warren hit a 3-point with 2:30 left in the third quarter.

Longhorns Upset Train Ends

Texas No.6 defeated No.3 UCLA and No.2 Maryland en route to Elite Eight. The annoyance of Maryland, an offensive heavyweight who has averaged over 90 points per game this season, took away everything Texas had on the defensive.

As they did against the Terrapins, the Longhorns immediately fell behind against South Carolina. But this time, they couldn’t get out of it like they did back then.

Saxton continued his strong Sweet 16 performance and scored the Gamecocks’ first eight points in the paint on assists through the backcourt from Cooke and Henderson. Henderson, Boston and Cooke entered the scoring column and suddenly it was 14-2 in South Carolina’s favor three minutes into the game.

The Gamecocks led 18-7 after a quarter and carried a lead of at least eight points to take a 37-22 halftime advantage. Saxton had 12 team points as the Gamecocks scored more in the paint (24) than Texas as a team.

Collier, a junior widely regarded as the No.1 pick in the WNBA draft next month, was 2-for-10 off floor and scored her four points in the first half. She added four rebounds and three blocks against Boston and sat for much of the third quarter with three fouls.

Warren, a junior, led all Texas scorers with 13 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Celeste Taylor and junior Lauren Ebo each had seven rebounds, a team high. Taylor added eight runs and three steals. No one else has scored more than four.

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