Late shots bounce Stanford’s way
STANFORD 66, SOUTH CAROLINA 65
SAN ANTONIO — Haley Jones came up with a big shot, and Stanford got a little bit of luck to get back to the national championship game for the first time in 11 years.
Jones scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 32 seconds left, to help Stanford beat South Carolina 66-65 on Friday night and advance to the women’s NCAA Tournament championship game.
“It was a battle. It was a really tough game where we had to work really hard,” Stanford Coach Tara VanDerveer said.
It’s Stanford’s first trip to the title game since 2010, which was also in San Antonio. The Cardinal lost to UConn in that contest, 53-47.
“We got to play really well no matter who we play,” VanDerveer said. “I don’t have any skeletons in the closet or ghosts. This is a team that has confidence in themselves.”
Leading by one, the Cardinal turned it over with 6.2 seconds left at midcourt, but Brea Beal missed a contested layup as Lexie Hull hustled back to get in her way. Aliyah Boston grabbed the rebound, but her putback attempt also bounced off the rim setting off a wild celebration by the Cardinal.
“It is nice to have a little karma go your way,” VanDerveer said.
VanDerveer, who earlier this season topped Pat Summitt’s all-time win mark of 1,098 victories, will be looking for her third national championship at the school and first since 1992.
Trailing 65-64 with 32 seconds left, Jones hit a jumper from the corner off a rebound that gave the Cardinal their one-point lead.
“I just saw the ball bouncing around and most of my teammates were hitting some bodies to open it up. I just let it fly and I said, ‘Please, Jesus, go in,’ and it did,” said Jones, who was 11 for 14 from the floor. “And then we just had to go on to the next play, there’s no time to get hyped about, we had to get back on defense.”
The Gamecocks had a couple of chances after Jones’ shot. On the next possession, Boston had her shot blocked, but got her own rebound. Then, with 15 seconds left, Destanni Henderson threw a pass that was stolen by Ashten Prechtel.
After an inbounds, Cameron Brink lost the ball at midcourt to Boston, giving South Carolina those final two chances.
“We got a pretty decent two looks at it, layup, follow up,” South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said. “We just came up short. We lost the way we did and it’s heartbreaking.”
Jones and Francesca Belibi ran to Boston, who was still standing under the basket and both embraced her with a long hug after the buzzer sounded.
“Me, Fran and Aliyah, we’re best friends. We text every day. We talk all the time. We love competing against each other. I think us being so close really boosted our competitiveness against each other,” Jones said. “So, I mean it was a hard-fought battle. She played great. We both played great. So, we just wanted to pay her the respect that she deserves.”
Down 64-59 with 1:42 left, Henderson scored six consecutive points to give the Gamecocks (26-5) a 65-64 lead with 38.8 seconds left. She had a three-point play and a three-pointer.
Zia Cooke finished with 25 points to lead South Carolina.