Florida State steals a spot in Elite Eight
STOCKTON, Calif. — Ivey Slaughter started swiping to help Florida State discover its best defense from all angles, and the third-seeded Seminoles erased a daunting deficit and ran right into the Stockton Regional final with a 66-53 victory over second-seeded Oregon State on Saturday.
Slick-handed Slaughter had a career-high nine steals. Florida State had 16 steals total, and Slaughter also contributed 11 points and eight rebounds. Slaughter made one of two free throws with 3:41 left before Sydney Wiese missed yet another 3-point try on the other end during a tough day from deep, and Slaughter scored again to help extend her special senior season.
ACC Player of the Year Shakayla Thomas had her third consecutive double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. The Seminoles (28-6) used an 8-0 run to put the game away and will face top-seeded South Carolina on Monday for a Final Four berth.
Wiese wound up with just nine points on 3-for14 shooting and missed all 10 of her 3-point tries in her final collegiate game for the Beavers (315), who missed a return trip to the Final Four.
SOUTH CAROLINA 100 QUINNIPIAC 58
Sure, the Gamecocks knew a little something about the Bobcats’ surprising NCAA Tournament run as Connecticut’s other Sweet 16 team.
South Carolina ignored the “Q” on the front of the opposing jersey and immediately went to work.
Kaela Davis, A’ja Wilson and the top-seeded Gamecocks overpowered the upstarts from the opening tip, scoring the first 16 points and advancing to the Stockton Regional final by beating the 12th-seeded Bobcats.
“It doesn’t matter what name is on the jersey, we come out to play. Obviously, they had a good run, but we’ve still got a mission to complete, and that’s to make it to the Final Four and national championship,” Allisha Gray said.
Davis scored 28 points with five 3s, and Wilson added 24.
Quinnipiac (29-7) started 0-for-10 and took more than seven minutes to score.
Gray had 19 points as South Carolina (30-4) reached the Elite Eight for the second time in three years.