Women’s NCAA notebook: Hello, Sweet 16! No. 1 Gamecocks battle past USF Bulls to advance in NCAAs
Tribune News Service
It’s back to Greenville for the Gamecocks.
No. 1 South Carolina defeated South Florida 76-45 in the second round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Sunday at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.
South Florida took control of the game early on, getting out to an 8-3 lead. It was led by the offense of leading scorer Elena Tsineke, who finished with 17 points. The Bulls led 16-12 after 10 minutes.
South Carolina slowly began to regain control. The Bulls were shooting 4-of-9 from 3-point range by halftime, but USC led 33-29.
The Gamecocks created separation in the third quarter, tightening up on defense and outscoring South Florida 19-7. USC also took advantage of extra possessions, with 21 rebounds in that period alone.
At halftime, the USC players were “talking amongst each other before coach (Dawn Staley) comes in and just pointing out some things, some ideas we have,” senior guard Brea Beal said. “And just going out there and making that adjustment because we understand their playing style and adjustments they made.”
South Florida cooled off by the start of the fourth quarter, and South Carolina held on from there.
Aliyah Boston finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The Gamecocks now move on to the Sweet 16, where they will face Monday’s winner of the UCLA-Oklahoma game. USC will play its next game on Saturday.
No. 2 seed Iowa holds off Georgia
The good news for Georgia coach Katie Abrahamson-Henderson is one of the schools she played at won.
The bad news for the former Georgia and Iowa player is it wasn’t the team she was coaching.
Second-seeded Iowa outlasted 10th-seeded Georgia 74-66 on Sunday, ending the Bulldogs’ postseason run in the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive season.
The Bulldogs were competitive for much of the game, trailing by only two points at the end of the first quarter and one at halftime. They led as late as the third quarter, and they had opportunities to tie or take the lead late in the fourth quarter.
“We feel like we had a good chance, a good fight,” forward Javyn Nicholson said. “This is March Madness, though.”
Turnovers from Alisha Lewis, Diamond Battles and Audrey Warren on three consecutive possessions in the final two minutes were too much to recover from. Battles missed a shot that could have cut Iowa’s lead to one possession with 19 seconds left.
“We had an opportunity, and we didn’t capitalize on it,” Nicholson said. “That’s how things go.”
Sunday’s results
Greenville Regional 1
(1) South Carolina 76, (8) South Florida 45
(3) Notre Dame 53, (11) Mississippi State 48
Greenville Regional 2
(2) Utah 63, (10) Princeton 56
(3) LSU 66, (6) Michigan 42
Seattle Regional 3
(1) Virginia Tech 72, (9) South Dakota State 60
Seattle Regional 4
(2) Iowa 74, (10) Georgia 66
(8) Mississippi 54, (1) Stanford 49
Monday’s games
Greenville Regional 1
(4) UCLA vs. (5) Oklahoma, 7 p.m.
Greenville Regional 2
(4) Villanova vs. (12) Florida Gulf Coast, 4 p.m.
(1) Indiana vs. (9) Miami
Seattle Regional 3
(3) Ohio State vs. (6) North Carolina, 1 p.m.
(4) Tennessee vs. (12) Toledo, 3 p.m.
(2) Connecticut vs. (7) Baylor, 6 p.m.
Seattle Regional 4
(4) Texas vs. (5) Louisville, 4 p.m.
(3) Duke vs. (6) Colorado, 6 p.m.