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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

South Carolina women earn first Final Four berth

Associated Press

South Carolina coach Dawn Staley climbed the ladder, snipped the final strand of net and raised it as thousands of garnet-clad fans cheered.

Taking in the scene, she mouthed one word: “Unbelievable.”

Believe it. Staley and the Gamecocks are headed to their first Final Four.

Tiffany Mitchell scored seven of her 21 points in the final two minutes, and South Carolina beat Florida State 80-74 on Sunday in the Greensboro final.

“It put South Carolina on the map,” Staley said. “The regular season that we had, the success that we’ve had in (the Southeastern) Conference, when you hurdle over being a regional champion and going to the Final Four, it puts your name in history. So it was a history-making game for us.”

Playing from behind for most of the day, the Gamecocks shot 61 percent while rallying to win their seventh straight and keep the best season in school history going.

Next stop: Tampa, Florida, to face Notre Dame.

Leticia Romero scored 13 points and Brittany Brown had 12 for the second-seeded Seminoles (32-5). The best season in program history ended after they set the school record for wins and reached their first Atlantic Coast Conference championship game.

Oklahoma City

Notre Dame 77, Baylor 68: Lindsay Allen scored 23 points to help top-seeded Notre Dame defeat Baylor and reach its fifth consecutive Final Four.

Allen, who scored a career-high 28 points in the regional semifinal win over Stanford on Friday, followed that by making 10 of 16 shots and dropping seven assists. She was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional.

“We’re just excited to be in this moment,” Allen said. “We’re just excited to be making it to another Final Four.”

Michaela Mabrey scored 14 points and Jewell Loyd added 13 points for the Fighting Irish (35-2), who won their 21st straight. Nina Davis had 26 points and 13 rebounds and 10 rebounds and Niya Johnson added 10 assists for second-seeded Baylor (33-4), which had hoped to avenge an 88-69 loss to Notre Dame in last year’s regional final.