First look: Gamecocks lock in Final Four showdown with fellow 1-seed Louisville
For the second time in as many years, South Carolina is headed to the Final Four.
The Gamecocks had their best offensive showing of the NCAA women’s basketball tournament by shooting 51% from the field in an 80-50 win over Creighton to win the Greensboro Regional. South Carolina now moves on to the tournament semifinals to take on Louisville on Friday at the Target Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
On the other side of the March Madness women’s bracket will be defending champion Stanford, which will take on UConn.
Here’s what you need to know about both Final Four games:
Final Four: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 1 Louisville
▪ The records: South Carolina (33-2) vs. Louisville (29-4)
▪ Time: 7 p.m. Friday, April 1
▪ TV: ESPN
▪ Series history: The Gamecocks hold a 17-4 series lead over the Cardinals, which includes a 2-1 advantage in neutral sites. South Carolina has won 11 of the last 12 meetings. The most recent game was a top-five matchup where the third-ranked Gamecocks earned an 83-59 victory over the Jeff Walz-led No. 4 Cardinals. The Gamecocks ended that season on an 11-game winning streak en route to the program’s first-ever national championship.
▪ How South Carolina got here: Despite falling short of an SEC tournament title, the Gamecocks hosted the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament and got things started with a 79-21 win over 16-seed Howard. Despite poor shooting performances, the team then beat eighth-seeded Miami 49-33 before taking a 69-61 win over No. 5 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro. The Gamecocks’ offense did a 180 turn in the Elite Eight and the team continued its defensive dominance for a 30-point victory over the 10th-seeded Creighton Bluejays.
▪ 3 top Gamecocks: Aliyah Boston (junior, forward, 16.8 points, 12.2 rebounds, 2.5 blocks); Destanni Henderson (senior, guard, 11.1 points, 3.9 assists, 1.3 steals); Victaria Saxton (senior, forward, 5.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.3 blocks).
▪ How Louisville got here: After falling to N.C. State on Jan. 20, the Cardinals have only lost two games and earned a No. 1 seed in the Wichita, Kansas region heading into the NCAA tournament. No stranger to deep postseason runs, Louisville beat Albany (83-51), Gonzaga (68-59) and Tennessee (76-64) before facing off against Michigan in the Elite Eight, the team’s fourth straight appearance, on Monday night.
The Cardinals put the Wolverines away 62-50 and are back in the Final Four for the second time in four NCAA tournaments.
▪ 3 top Cardinals: Emily Engstler (senior, forward, 12.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, 2.2 assists); Hailey Van Lith (sophomore, guard, 14.3 points, 2.2 assists, 1.1 steals); Kianna Smith (redshirt senior, guard, 11.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.8 assists)
Final Four: No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 2 UConn
▪ The records: Stanford (32-3), UConn (29-5)
▪ Time: 9:30 p.m. Friday, April 1
▪ TV: ESPN
▪ Series history: Between the two powerhouse programs, UConn has the 11-7 series lead over Stanford and has only lost once to the Cardinal in the last six meetings. On Nov. 12, 2017, the then-No. 1 Huskies defeated Stanford 78-53 at the Countdown to Columbus in Columbus, Ohio. Stanford’s last win over UConn came Nov. 17, 2014 at home in overtime 88-86.
▪ How Stanford got here: The defending champion Cardinal team is eyeing a second straight national championship and fourth overall for the program. It took all 40 minutes to fend off a feisty Texas squad in the Elite Eight, but the Cardinal came away with the 59-50 win.
No. 1-seeded Stanford, the back-to-back Pac-12 regular-season and tournament champions, reached a third Final Four trip in six NCAA tournaments by beating Montana State (78-37), Kansas (91-65) and Maryland (72-66) before its close encounter with the Longhorns on Sunday night.
▪ 3 top Cardinal players: Haley Jones (junior, guard, 12.9 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.7 assists); Cameron Brink (sophomore, forward, 13.4 points, 8.1 rebounds, 2.6 blocks); Lexie Hull (senior, guard, 12.7 points, 5.2 rebounds, 2.2 steals)
▪ How UConn got here: Despite having a relatively down year — the last time the Huskie lost five games in a season was 2011-12 — UConn is still in the hunt for the program’s 11th national championship under Geno Auriemma. The group was without star player and reigning national player of the year Paige Bueckers for more than two months, but the sophomore returned Feb. 25.
The Huskies held everything together in Bueckers’ absence and maintained its dominance in the Big East, winning a 20th Big East Conference tournament championship and ninth straight conference championship, which also includes seven in the American Athletic Conference. UConn has outscored its NCAA tournament opponents 210-143 prior to the 91-87, double-overtime win Monday over N.C. State to get back to the Final Four.
▪ 3 top Huskies: Paige Bueckers (sophomore, guard, 13.8 points, 4.2 assists, 1.6 steals); Christyn Williams (senior, guard, 14.5 points, 2.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds); Olivia Nelson-Ododa (senior, forward, 9.5 points, 7.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists)
This story was originally published March 28, 2022 at 8:10 PM with the headline "First look: Gamecocks lock in Final Four showdown with fellow 1-seed Louisville."
