South Carolina Makes it to a Fifth Consecutive Final Four
The South Carolina Gamecocks rallied against Duke to make it to their fifth straight Final Four. South Carolina rallied in the fourth quarter and beat Duke 54-50 on Sunday. The reigning national champions have certainly not made it look easy. South Carolina trailed Duke by six points for a chilling third quarter.
South Carolina Advancing to Final Four
South Carolina led 52-50 with 29.8 seconds left on the clock, and on an inbound pass, Bree Hall committed an offensive foul, sending Ashlon Jackson to the floor. With a chance to make the go-ahead basket, Jackson missed badly on her 3-point attempt with Hall in her face. Duke intentionally fouled Chloe Kitts, who made both free-throw buckets to win.
Kitts led Carolina with 14 points, and her performance throughout the NCAA tournament has reached another level. Against Duke, South Carolina wanted to set the tone early, and the Gamecocks did just that. They came out with a quick lead with better shot selection, pacing, and a defensive effort that had Duke on its heels. However, the Blue Devils adjusted and turned the game into exactly what they wanted — a defensive struggle where points were hard to come by.
Duke chipped away at the lead in the second half of the game, but in the end, it wasn’t enough to close it out. The Gamecocks opened the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run to retake the lead on Te-Hina Paopao’s jumper, sending the South Carolina-leaning crowd into a frenzy. The resilience in Carolina to not fall to Duke made the magic happen for them to win the game.
The Gamecocks had to rally against Maryland, Indiana, and Duke earlier in the tournament. With all the comeback wins from behind, South Carolina is off to the races to defend their title by advancing to the Final Four once again. South Carolina is 3-3 in their previous six women’s Final Four appearances. Last year, the Gamecocks defeated NC State 78-59 to win the national championship.
What’s Next for South Carolina?
South Carolina will face the winner of TCU and Texas in the women’s Final Four national semifinal. TCU and Texas square off Monday in their Elite Eight matchup. Carolina will play that winner in Tampa Bay on Friday, April 4th. The Gamecocks will have to clean up their game. They had 10 turnovers in the first half against Duke, with a minus-8 in offensive rebound differential. However, the team didn’t have a field goal for the final 6 minutes of the frame. Duke had a chance to potentially win the game in the waning seconds of Sunday’s contest, but Ashlon Jackson’s three came up short.
