Cooke provides a steady diet of 3s
Sophomore guard catches fire to lead Gamecocks by Jackets
SOUTH CAROLINA 76, GEORGIA TECH 65
SAN ANTONIO — Zia Cooke and her South Carolina teammates were hot from the outside and rode that solid shooting to reach the Elite Eight.
Cooke scored 17 points, hitting five of six 3-point attempts, to lead top-seed South Carolina to a 76-65 win over fifth-seeded Georgia Tech on Sunday.
“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 got some great programs here that can put a lot of points on the scoreboard.”
It’s the third time in the past four women’s NCAA Tournaments that the Gamecocks have at least reached the regional finals. South Carolina won the 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 four-point 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,” Georgia Tech 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.”
Staley and Fortner, have a long history together going back to their days with USA Basketball.
Fortner was the head coach of the 2000 Olympic team that won gold in Sydney, Australia, and Staley was her point guard.
Staley’s success as a coach is no surprise to Fortner, who still calls her one of the best team leaders she’s ever coached. The South Carolina coach praised Fortner’s positivity, which is something Georgia Tech needed when they hired her in 2019. The Yellow Jackets were coming off a rocky end to the tenure of former coach MaChelle Joseph and needed stability.
Fortner provided that and had Georgia Tech reach its second-ever Sweet 16 in her second season. The Yellow Jackets also reached the regional semifinals 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 year).”
They hung with the Gamecocks for the opening 20 minutes in a well-played first half. South Carolina built a 10-point lead before Georgia Tech scored the final six points of the half to only trail 39-35 at the break.