Final eight set for NCAA basketball tourney
SAN ANTONIO — Zia Cooke and her South Carolina teammates were hot from the outside Sunday afternoon and rode that solid shooting to reach the Elite Eight.
Cooke scored 17 points, hitting five of six 3-point attempts, to lead the Hemisfair Region’s No. 1 seed to a 76-65 win over fifth-seeded Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament.
“Our offense carried us today with our ability to hit layups and stretch the floor and hit some 3s,” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “Hope it continues to get better. You’ve got some great programs here that can put a lot of points on the scoreboard.”
It’s the third time in a stretch of four NCAA tournaments the Gamecocks have at least reached the regional finals. South Carolina won its lone national championship in 2017.
After going scoreless in the first half, Aliyah Boston had the first seven points in the third quarter as South Carolina (25-4) went on a 14-6 run to start the period. That lengthened a fourpoint halftime lead to double digits. The All-America sophomore forward finished with nine points.
“This team is resilient and determined and focused on the task at hand,” Staley said. “We found ourselves with Aliyah Boston in foul trouble early on, and this team pivoted well today. We can afford ourselves that situation when we’re hitting shots.”
The Yellow Jackets (17-9) made a run in the fourth quarter to get within 69-63, but five consecutive points — the last coming on a 3-pointer from Cooke with 3 minutes left — sealed the win.
Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 20 points to lead Georgia Tech.
“We scored enough points to win, they just killed us in the paint today. Good gosh, they had like 44 points in the paint,” coach Nell Fortner said. “They’re big, they’re long, they’re lengthy. … South Carolina did what they needed to do. They played how they’re built.”
Fortner, hired in 2019, led the
program to just its second Sweet 16, with the Jackets’ first region semifinal in 2012.
“My main takeaway is this team has a really incredibly bright future,” Fortner said. “We’ve got to put some work in in the offseason and we’ve got to get better individually so we can get into this game next year and have a different outcome. But I’m very proud how we competed this year and got through with the pandemic, stayed safe and were able to complete (the season).”
ALAMO REGION
› Stanford 89, Missouri State 62
Missouri State had waited two years to get another crack at the Sweet 16 and Stanford, only to watch the Cardinal turn their rematch into a romp.
Hannah Jump scored 17 points off the bench as top-seeded Stanford (28-2) strolled past the fifth-seeded Lady Bears (23-3) to earn a spot in the Elite Eight for the 21st time.
Stanford led by 23 at halftime
and by 38 in the fourth quarter as the Cardinal kept up their postseason barrage of 3-pointers by making 15; they have made at least 13 from long range in each of their three tournament games. Jump led the way Sunday with five.
“We try to ride the hot hand,” said Kiana Williams, Stanford’s career leader in 3-pointers who made four and scored 16 points. “It’s hard to guard us because you can’t just focus on one person.”
Next up is Louisville on Tuesday, when a win would send Stanford to its 14th Final Four. Cardinal coach Tara VanDerveer has won two national championships, the most recent in 1992.
Elle Ruffridge scored 18 points to lead Missouri State, which has history of punching above its status as a program from the mid-major Missouri Valley Conference. The Lady Bears have two Final Four appearances of their own, but the most recent came two decades ago behind record scorer Jackie Stiles.
This team had a veteran lineup
eager to improve upon its nine-point loss to Stanford two years ago, and Missouri State was hungry to push for even bigger things after the coronavirus pandemic canceled the 2020 tournament and abruptly ended a 26-4 season.
The Lady Bears’ hope of pulling off an upset disappeared quickly when they missed nine of their first 10 shots.
› Louisville 60, Oregon 42 No. 2 seed Louisville (26-3) continued its stellar defensive play — sixth-seeded Oregon (159) scored just 14 points in the first half — and the Cardinals reached the Elite Eight for the third straight tournament.
Dana Evans provided the offense for the Atlantic Coast Conference runners-up, who were able to advance the day after league champion North Carolina State became this year’s first No. 1 seed knocked out. After going scoreless in the first quarter, the All-America guard started to heat up in what became a 29-point performance.
Oregon had freshman Maddie Scherr guarding Evans in the first quarter before Scherr hurt her ankle and had to come out of the game. Evans responded by scoring 13 points in the second and ended the period with a nifty drive and dish right before the buzzer to give Louisville a 29-14 halftime advantage.
The Ducks rallied in the second half, cutting their deficit to 10 after three quarters. They were down 41-33 with 50 seconds left in the third after two free throws by Nyara Sabally, but she injured her left ankle 20 seconds later when she stepped on a teammate’s foot. Sabally had to be helped off the court, didn’t return and finished with 14 points.
Oregon got within 43-37 early in the fourth quarter, but seven straight points by Evans — including two deep 3-pointers — started a 13-0 Louisville run that put the game away.
Oregon was trying to get to its fourth straight Elite Eight and second consecutive Final Four.
WOMEN’S NIT
› Rice 71, Ole Miss 58
MEMPHIS — Nancy Mulkey had 19 points, 12 rebounds and seven blocks, and Lauren Schwartz also scored 19 points and added five assists as Rice beat Ole Miss 71-58 in the championship game of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.
Rice (23-4), which won the 2017 Women’s Basketball Invitational, won its first WNIT title.
Mulkey shot 9-for-11 and Jasmine Smith added 11 points, nine rebounds and four steals for the Owls.
Donetta Johnson made a layup that gave Ole Miss (15-12) its first lead with 6:12 left in the first quarter, but Schwartz answered with a layup on the other end just 18 seconds later and Rice led the rest of the way.
Shakira Austin, the only Ole Miss player to score in double figures, finished with 25 points on 10-of-25 shooting. The rest of the team was a combined 11-of-45.
Rice overcame its 24 turnovers by shooting 50% from the field and making all 17 of its free throws, including 10 in the fourth quarter.