Gamecocks dominate upset-minded Bobcats
STOCKTON, Calif. — Sure, South Carolina knew a little something about Quinnipiac’s surprising NCAA Tournament run as Connecticut’s other Sweet 16 team.
The Gamecocks ignored the “Q’’ on the front of the opposing jersey and immediately went to work.
Kaela Davis, A’ja Wilson and top-seeded South Carolina 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 100-58 on Saturday.
“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 declared.
“I second that,” Davis followed. Davis scored 28 points with five 3s, Wilson added 24 and South Carolina’s athleticism and smothering, swarming defense was just too much for Quinnipiac on the Sweet 16 stage. The Bobcats started out 0 for 10 and took more than seven minutes to score as they struggled to get shots off, let alone establish their typically prolific perimeter game.
Gray had 19 points and eight rebounds as South Carolina (30-4) won its eighth in a row, putting coach Dawn Staley’s team in the Elite Eight for the second time in three years.
“I thought our players came out ready to play on both sides of the ball,” Staley said.
The Bobcats (29-7) had won 12 straight games, beating fifth-seeded Marquette and No. 4 Miami for the first two NCAA Tournament wins in school history. The mid-major school became an upset darling as the lesser-known women’s team in its state, prompting UConn coach Geno Auriemma to wear a Quinnipiac T-shirt on Friday beneath his warmup jacket in support of dear friend and coach Tricia Fabbri and her program’s special showing.
“We put our school on the map. Not only do they know how to pronounce our school now, they know who we are and what we stand for and what we’re all about,” said Jen Fay, who will return next season looking for more.
Wilson, averaging 19.6 points over her previous five games, shot 7 for 9 and made all 10 of her free throws. Gray was fine after getting carried off the court late in South Carolina’s 71-68 comeback win against Arizona State last Sunday because of a hamstring cramp that initially was feared to be more serious.
The Gamecocks shot 61 percent, including 10 of 16 from 3-point range, and made 18 of 19 free throws. They are trying to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2015, with sights on the program’s first NCAA championship.
“They disrupted us all day long in terms of us offensively and really feeling comfortable,” Fabbri said. “South Carolina lived up to their No. 1 seed all game long.”
Staley’s team kept pushing after halftime, opening the third quarter on an 11-2 run and capitalized on a technical against the Bobcats’ bench.