S. Carolina rallies into its first final
Stanford offense struggles after senior guard is injured.
DALLAS — Allisha Gray scored 18 points and A’ja Wilson had a double-double, leading South Carolina to its first NCAA championship game in women’s basketball with a 62-53 defeat of Stanford on Friday night in a semifinal.
Wilson had 13 points and 19 rebounds for the Gamecocks (32-4), who went ahead to stay with 13 straight points in the third quarter as part of a 42-24 scoring edge in the second half.
Connecticut played Mississippi State in the later semifinal.
Stanford (32-6) took a big hit when senior guard Karlie Samuelson sprained her right ankle about 41/2 minutes before halftime, after the Cardinal had taken an eight-point lead with a 13-1 run.
Samuelson was injured on a drive when she stepped on a defender’s foot. Two teammates carried her off the floor.
Samuelson, who finished scoreless and took only two shots in 25 minutes, returned to start the second half. But she was back on the bench after only 73 seconds. She entered the game several more times but was ineffective.
E r i c a McCal l h a d 14 p o i n t s a n d 14 rebounds for the Cardinal, but made only 7 of 19 shots. Alanna Smith had 14 points and 12 rebounds.
South Carolina opened the second half on a 19-4 run and took a 35-33 lead on Bianca Cuevas-Moore’s 3-pointer with 3:31 remaining in the third quarter.
The Gamecocks led the rest of the way, with Stanford getting as close as three points twice in the fourth quarter.
Stanford missed three shots on its next possession after the Gamecocks took the lead, and South Carolina quickly extended the margin on freshman Tyasha Harris’ one-handed pass to Doniyah Cline, who was open under the basket for a layup.
That was the only assist for Harris, who finished with 10 points.
South Carolina lost in the semifinals of its only other Final Four appearance two years ago.
The Gamecocks’ Dawn Staley, who played for Tara VanDerveer on the U.S. women’s team that won the 1996 Olympic gold medal, won as a coach against the Stanford coach for the first time in six tries. more than the next-closest team. North Carolina cleans up nearly 42 percent of its misses, so their best offensive play is often a missed shot.
The Tar Heels grabbed 13 offensive rebounds on 31 shots, leading to 17 second- chance points in their Elite Eight win over Kentucky, one of the longest teams in the country.
Kennedy Meeks is the biggest O-rebound producer, grabbing 3.68 per game, good for 10th nationally.
The Ducks have two starters taller than 6-foot-4 and were 114th nationally in clearing off defensive rebounds. Oregon handled one good offensive rebounding team by knocking out Kansas, but will have its hands full today.
Two words likely to be heard from Oregon coach Dana Altman a lot: “Box out!”
■ South Carolina’s front court vs. Gonzaga’s bigs: Gonzaga has a massive 1-2 punch up from with Przemek Karnowski and Zach Collins. At 7-foot-1, 300 pounds, Karnowski may be the biggest player in the country. He’s also an adept passer who picks apart double teams and has great footwork for maneuvering in the paint. Collins is an athletic 7-foot freshman who can score inside, outside and may be the best NBA prospect in the Final Four.
South Carolina counters with Maik Kotsar and Chris Silva.
Kotsar is 6-10, but gives up more than 50 pounds to Karnowski. Silva is an inch shorter and more than 75 pounds lighter than Gonzaga’s big man. Keeping those two out of foul trouble while getting help from everyone else will be a big key today.
■ Pace game, Oregon vs. North Carolina: The Ducks are often thought of as a fast-paced team. They are high fliers, but a fast pace is not their thing. Oregon has an adjusted tempo that’s 241st nationally and was able to slow Kansas and Mich- igan, two fast-paced teams, on its way to the Final Four.
North Carolina, on the other hand, is one of the fastest teams in the country. The Tar Heels love to get out and run under any circumstance, sometimes scoring five seconds after a made free throw by their opponent.
Fast or slow, that could determine this side of the bracket.
■ Gonzaga’s 3-point shooting vs. South Carolina’s perimeter defense: The Gamecocks play defense along the perimeter as if they have six players on the floor. South Carolina is seventh nationally in 3-point defense, holding teams to a tick under 30 percent from the arc, and reached the Final Four by holding Florida to 7-of-26 shooting from 3 in the Elite Eight.
Gonzaga is one of the nation’s most efficient offensive teams, but the Zags don’t usually do it with a lot of 3-point shooting.
Gonzaga has scored 807 of its 3,080 points this season (26 percent) on 3-pointers, though it does shoot 37 percent from the arc. The Zags made 12 of 24 3-pointers to beat Xavier in the Elite Eight, but went 12 for 46 in wins over South Dakota State and Northwestern.
Gonz a g a l i ke s t o work i t s offense from the inside out, so having an effective inside game could help free up its shooters, like it did in the Xavier game.
■ G o nz a g a’s Ni ge l Wil - l i a ms - G o s s v s . S i n d a r i u s Thornwell: As individual matchups go, this is a good one.
Williams- Goss i s the Zags’ leader, running their offense while scoring on a variet y of drives, 3s and step-back jumps. He also an underrated defender — just ask West Virginia’s Jevon Carter, who was unable to get a clean look in the closing seconds of the Sweet 16.
Thornwell has been nearly unstoppable in the NCAA Tournament, leading the bracket with 26 points per game while practically carrying the Gamecocks to their first Final Four.
No telling how much they’ll get matched up, but it may be fun when they do.