South Carolina routs Texas to reach Final Four
SAN ANTONIO – Zia Cooke scored 16 points and South Carolina used its stifling defense to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas for a 62-34 victory Tuesday night.
Top-seeded South Carolina 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 SEC when Schaefer was at Mississippi State.
South Carolina (26-4) won the Hemisfair Region to advance to Friday's national semifinal against the winner of Tuesday night's Alamo Region final between No. 1 Stanford and No. 2 Louisville.
South Carolina ran out to an 19-point lead in the third quarter and then responded to a Texas run with an burst started by a three-pointer from Henderson.
Arizona 66, Indiana 53 (Monday): Aari McDonald scored 33 points in a dizzying display of razzle-dazzle shot making and gutsy leadership in crunch time, carrying the No. 3 seed Wildcats to their first Final Four.
The Pac-12 player of the year controlled just about every Arizona possession, hitting the Hoosiers with slashing drives, timely rebounds and even a banked-in 3pointer.
She briefly left the game with a twisted left ankle late in the fourth quarter, but had it taped up and limped back on the court to score six more points. Her threepoint play with 34 seconds left put the exclamation point on the victory.
“Just being a little player, I always play with a chip on my shoulder,” said McDonald, who stands just 5-foot-6 but used her small frame size to slip under and around Indiana defenders or shake them off the dribble.
“A lot of people say I'm too small. That drives me,” she said.