South Carolina shakes off test
HEMISFAIR REGIONAL SOUTH CAROLINA 59, OREGON STATE 42
SAN ANTONIO — Aliyah Boston scored 19 points and top seed South Carolina dominated after a close first quarter to beat eighth-seeded Oregon State 59-42 in the NCAA Women’s Tournament at the Alamodome, advancing to its seventh consecutive Sweet 16.
The Gamecocks (24-4) led by a point after one quarter but had built a 12-point lead by halftime and were up 5329 by the start of the fourth quarter.
“This is a huge lift off of our shoulders because that was a hard game,” South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley said. “I know the score doesn’t say that. But … Oregon State is a really good, efficient basketball team. If you allow them to do what they set out to do, they’re very good at it.”
South Carolina, which won a national title in 2017, improved to 8-1 in the second round under Staley and will appear in the regional semifinals for the 11th time overall.
“Our players didn’t want to pack and head home,” Staley said. “They wanted to stay a little bit longer. A lot of them, this is their first tournament experience … and the deeper we go in this tournament, the more experience we have, the better off we’ll be this year as well as in years to come.”
Taylor Jones scored 13 points for Oregon State (128), which ended a streak of four Sweet 16 appearances in a row. Jones fouled out with about three minutes remaining.
Staley’s plan was to get Jones into foul trouble — and it worked, with Jones limited to 18 minutes.
“We would have been in trouble because she could have erased the lead that we had with just her production,” Staley said.
Sasha Goforth (Fayetteville) finished with six points and four rebounds for the Beavers.
South Carolina made just 1 of 15 three-pointers, but was able to control the game by outscoring the Beavers 34-24 inside and winning big on the boards 50-32.
The Gamecocks used a big run to break a tie and lead by 12 points at halftime. Boston scored the first four points in that span and Laeticia Amihere added six points as South Carolina took advantage of six turnovers.
“We just keep pushing,” Boston said. “We never stop attacking, no matter who it is.”
Oregon State managed just five points on 2-of-12 shooting and had 7 turnovers in the second quarter.
“They were disruptive all day, closed gaps really quickly defensively,” Oregon State Coach Scott Rueck said. “During a key stretch of that second quarter [they] turned us over, turned it into quick points at the other end, which is obviously a staple and a hallmark of what they do. It’s when they’re at their best.”
The Gamecocks continued to pile on to start the second half, outscoring Oregon State 13-3 in the first 41 /2 minutes of the third to make it 43-21.
“They took away what we wanted to do on offense,” Oregon State guard Aleah Goodman said. “We just weren’t really ourselves. It’s a bummer. It’s hard to go out like that.”
GEORGIA TECH 73, WEST VIRGINIA 56
SAN ANTONIO — Lotta-Maj Lahtinen scored 22 points, Lorela Cubaj had 21 points and 12 rebounds, and No. 5 seed Georgia Tech defeated No. 4 West Virginia at the UTSA Convocation Center.
The Yellow Jackets needed a second-half rally in the opening round against Stephen F. Austin — the fourth-largest comeback in tournament history — but had this game well in control with a 17-point lead over the Mountaineers to start the fourth.
Lahtinen was 9 of 16 from the field and struck for 17 points in the first half to dig the Yellow Jackets out of an early hole.
Georgia Tech (17-8) advanced to the Sweet 16 for the second time in program history and first since 2012.
Esmery Martinez scored 13 points to lead West Virginia (22-7).
MERCADO REGIONAL
NC STATE 79, SOUTH FLORIDA 67
SAN ANTONIO — Jakia Brown-Turner scored 19 points and top-seeded North Carolina State shrugged off a challenge from No. 8 South Florida at the Alamodome with a big third quarter, advancing to the Sweet 16.
Jada Boyd added 18 points and 10 rebounds for the Wolfpack (22-2), who reached their third consecutive regional semifinal and 14th overall. They will face fourth-seeded Indiana or 12th-seeded Belmont.
USF (19-4) led by a point early in the third quarter before North Carolina State used two big runs to pull away and take a 12-point lead into the fourth.
The Bulls pulled within eight points with 3 1/2 minutes to go, but the Wolfpack scored the next five points.
Elena Tsineke had 22 points to lead the Bulls, who made six three-pointers in the first half to spark hope of an upset, but hit just three more after halftime.
ALAMO REGIONAL
STANFORD 73, OKLAHOMA STATE 62
SAN ANTONIO — Haley Jones scored 17 points and Stanford unleashed another barrage of three-pointers as the overall No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament booked yet another trip to the Sweet 16 with a victory over No. 8 Oklahoma State at the UTSA Convocation Center.
The Cardinal made 13 three-pointers after making 15 in their first-round win. All of those against Oklahoma State came in the first three quarters as Stanford built the lead as high as 20.
Stanford made the Sweet 16 for the 27th time in pursuit of its first national title since 1992. The Cardinal advance to play the winner of today’s matchup between No. 5 Missouri State and No. 13 Wright State in the Alamo Region.
The Cardinal (27-2) had four players score at least 10 points and all five starters made at least one three-pointer as the Cowgirls struggled to cover every shooter.
Neferatali Notoa scored 14 for Oklahoma State (19-9).