S. Carolina women roll into Sweet 16
COLUMBIA, S.C. — Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston notched her 81st career double double as top-seeded South Carolina shook off a slow start to power past eighth-seeded South Florida and into the Sweet 16 with a 76-45 victory Sunday.
The Gamecocks improved to
34-0 with their 40th straight win overall and moved four victories away from a second straight national title. They’ll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.
Boston, the program career record holder for double doubles, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, coming out of her final game at home to a huge ovation.
South Florida (27-7) entered looking for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn’t hang with the Gamecocks.
Elena Tsineke, just 5-of-16 shooting in Friday’s OT victory over Marquette, scored seven of the Bulls’ first 10 points on the way to a 16-12, first-quarter lead in front of an edgy crowd on South Carolina’s home court.
But Boston, the All-American and twotime Southeastern Conference player of the year, took things over in the second period. Her inside basket put South Carolina ahead to stay, 21-20, as it outscored the Bulls, 21-13, in the period.
UTAH 63, PRINCETON 56
Alissa Pili scored 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds to lead second-seeded Utah over 10th-seeded Princeton on Sunday night in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Jenna Johnson added 15 points for the Utes, who made only one 3-pointer but still advanced to their first Sweet 16 since 2006.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 19 points, Grace Stone added 16 and Ellie Mitchell finished with 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, for Princeton (24-6).
Down the stretch, the game turned into an old-fashioned rockfight. The teams combined to miss 15 consecutive field-goal attempts at one point, but Utah (27-4) got to the free-throw line to advance and face No.3 seed LSU.