Final Four rematch set for Stanford
ANTONIO — Lexie Hull scored 21 points, and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville on Tuesday night.
Next up for the topseeded Cardinal is South Carolina on Friday night in a rematch of the 2017 national semifinals.
Stanford dropped that one 62-53, ending its previous appearance in the Final Four. Connecticut and Arizona meet in the other national semifinal.
Stanford (29-2) trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game. The teams traded baskets the rest of the period, and No. 2 seed Louisville (26-4) was up 5048 heading into the final quarter.
The Cardinal scored the first 10 points of the fourth to go up 58-50. That run was capped by Kiana Williams’ three-pointer. The San Antonio native had a rough start to the game, missing 11 of her first 12 shots. She finally got going offensively, hitting four shots in a row to help Stanford build its lead.
Stanford was up 68-60 with just over three minutes left when Williams hit a stepback three that sealed the victory. She finished with 14 points.
The win moves the Cardinal one step closer to getting coach Tara VanDerveer her first national championship since 1992 and No. 3 overall. Now the Cardinal have reached a 14th Final Four.
The loss potentially ends the stellar college career of All-America guard Dana Evans, who could decide to reSAN
turn next year since the NCAA awarded all players an extra year of eligibility this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The senior guard scored 24 points for Louisville but got little help on offense.
South Carolina 62, Texas 34: Zia Cooke scored 16 points, and South Carolina used its stif ling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas in the Hemisfair
Region final.
Top-seeded South Carolina (26-4) blocked 14 shots, nine by Laeticia Amihere, and held No. 6 Texas to 23% shooting. The Longhorns were outscored 10-0 in the fourth quarter.
Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton each scored 12 for the Gamecocks, and Amihere also had 10 points and eight rebounds.
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley ran her championship game record
against Texas’ Vic Schaefer to 6-0, dating to when they faced each other in the Southeastern Conference when Schaefer was at Mississippi State. That includes beating Schaefer in the 2017 national final.
“It says they’re locked in,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. “They have been focused. They wanted the opportunity to get to the Final Four . ... I like who we’re bringing into this Final Four.”