MINNEAPOLIS — The South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Louisville Cardinals 72-59 in Friday’s women’s Final Four in a No. 1 fight.
Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds for her 29th double-double of the season. The consensus international of the year led the Gamecocks to the national championship game by a point in the semifinals a year after a heartbreaking loss.
South Carolina is advancing into its second NCAA title game. In their only other appearance, the Gamecocks won the NCAA title in 2017.
South Carolina, the No. 1 team this season wire-to-wire, earned its fourth win over an AP Top 5 opponent this season. The Gamecocks improved to 34-2, equaling their record for single-season wins.
Louisville finished the season 29-5. Senior forward Emily Engstler led the Cardinals with 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Engstler finished the tournament with 23 steals, equaling Ticha Penicheiro’s 1998 singles tournament record.
The Women’s Final Four resumes on Friday when top seed Stanford, the 2021 national champion, meets UConn in the nightcap.
ESPN’s Katie Barnes, Charlie Creme and Alexa Philippou break South Carolina’s win
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Destanni Henderson makes it big as she knocks down another 3-pointer corner for South Carolina.
South Carolina responded every time Louisville made a run. What were the big adjustments the Gamecocks made to beat the Cardinals?
Cream: Boston. Whenever South Carolina needs something big, it’s always Boston. The Gamecocks were in complete control with a 15-point lead in the third quarter and then went loose with the ball. The guards committed four turnovers and there were a few layups missed. Louisville was coming up on six, and suddenly it was a game again. Then Boston did their thing. In a 30-second streak that extended into the fourth quarter, Boston scored five points and grabbed four offensive rebounds. She took over the paint and the backboards, and the lead went back up to 11. Louisville never threatened again.
Hailey Van Lith scored 20 points in all four of Louisville’s NCAA tournament games en route to the Final Four but never got going on Friday with just two first-half points. How did South Carolina bother you?
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Barnes: Brea Beal came on early on Hailey Van Lith and disrupted everything the Louisville sophomore attempted. Beal, a 6-foot-1 junior guard, blocked two of Van Lith’s early shot attempts and converted them into scoring chances for South Carolina. Beal is an excellent defender, but her height and length forced even a smaller Van Lith to make more adjustments to get around her. And as a smaller guard — Van Lith is listed at 5ft 7 — South Carolina’s size in the alley and Beals on the edge just choked all levels of their game. Van Lith didn’t really like the color; she couldn’t get a pull-up sweater going; and she attempted three 3-point shots all game (all came late in the fourth quarter). Van Lith fought hard until she was pulled from the game, but South Carolina successfully frustrated her early on and she never recovered.
What was the key difference?
Philippou: Neither of these teams likes to take 3-pointers like Creighton, for example, but Louisville only hits a three-pointer – and attempts only eight shots from behind throughout the game, including three in the last minute! — while South Carolina had made five through the middle of the third quarter, was a difference maker.
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Early in the game, Louisville averaged six made 3-pointers on 17 attempts from deep per game; The fact that they attempted just five 3s in the last minute is a testament to how uncomfortable they were with the South Carolina defense. The Gamecocks 35% clip of 3 isn’t particularly impressive, but guards Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke started 5-for-10 from the arc, opening the game. If the Gamecocks can hit 3s in time on Sunday like they did on Friday, they will be well positioned to chop the nets.
It should also be noted that Beal (12 points, 5-to-7 shooting) was not only productive defensively but also offensively, taking advantage of open shots granted to her by Louisville’s defense, which was too preoccupied with Boston was. Beal has now finished consecutive games in double figures for the first time this season.
What does South Carolina need to do better in Sunday’s championship game?
Barnes: South Carolina did pretty much everything well on Friday night. The only area where the Gamecocks could improve is in basketball coaching. South Carolina averages 14.4 turnovers per game and the Gamecocks topped the average with 15 turnovers against Louisville. The Cardinals converted those extra possessions into 13 points at the other end. In addition to the turnovers, there were stretches where the guards were simply careless with the ball — throwing skip passes that hung in the air or trying to thread a needle too many. Not all of those decisions resulted in sales, but that may not be the case on Sunday.