FINAL: Gamecocks Make Offensive Shots, Defensive Stops Needed Late To Clinch A Spot In Final Four!
Dawn Staley and South Carolina's women's basketball team entered their Easter Sunday matchup against Oregon State looking to advance to their sixth Final Four in program history. Although they were forced to play a slower and much more methodical game than usual, the Gamecocks got the job done at the end of the day.
In the first few minutes of the game, South Carolina made it a point to get the ball to Kamilla Cardoso on the low block on the offensive end, which got Oregon State star Raegan Beers her first foul within the first two minutes of the game. This allowed the Gamecocks to play more inside-out, and get some more shots in the midrange and three-point areas. On defense, Carolina was aggressive in their on-ball defense on the Beavers' primary ball-handlers, which forced a couple of jump balls and four turnovers for Oregon State by the end of the first quarter.
The reason why Staley's team entered the locker room at halftime only up four points was due to the three-point shooting of the Beavers, particularly Lily Hansford and Donovyn Hunter, who made five collectively in the first 20 minutes. I also didn't help the Gamecocks that they missed six layups on the offensive end, struggling to finish through contact. However, one huge development on Oregon State's side was the fouls their frontcourt had accumulated, as Beers and Timea Gardiner both ended the first half with three fouls each.
In the third quarter, South Carolina would finally find the run that they were looking for, a 12-0 run between the 6:08 and 1:09 marks. This run was spurred by a couple of three-point makes from Raven Johnson and Tessa Johnson, and the Gamecocks being able to run out in transition offensively due to the Beavers going through a cold spell shooting the basketball. Late in the game, Oregon State would string together a 10-2 run of their own, thanks to two three-pointers on offense, and Carolina's offense becoming extremely stagnant with little ball movement. This led to the Gamecocks' lead being cut down to as low as four points, but thanks to the offensive aggressiveness from Tessa Johnson and collective team effort on defense, Dawn's team would slam the door shut in the final moments and come out on top.
The Gamecocks will play the winner of the Elite 8 matchup between Texas and NC State this coming Friday in Cleveland.
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