No. 1 Gamecocks advance with dominating defense
Aliyah Boston had 28 points and 22 rebounds, and top-seeded South Carolina moved into the Elite Eight with a 69-61 victory over North Carolina on Friday night in the NCAA Tournament in Greensboro, N.C.
The Gamecocks (32-2) will take on either No. 3-seed Iowa State or 10th-seeded Creighton in the Greensboro Region for a spot in the Final Four on Sunday.
The Tar Heels cut South Carolina’s 13-point fourthquarter lead to five down the stretch. But each time, Boston got her team back on track with her 27th straight double-double. The All-American also scored her team’s final 13 points.
Deja Kelly led North Carolina (25-7) with 23 points.
Carlie Littlefield made a 3-pointer from the right corner to cut North Carolina’s deficit to 63-59, but Boston grabbed Zia Cooke’s missed shot — her 11th offensive board — got fouled and made both free-throw tries.
UNC’s Anya Poole’s layup made it 65-61 with 2:04 left. Boston made an inside bucket a minute later, then closed out things with two foul shots with 18.4 seconds left for the final margin.
South Carolina was off to its fifth Elite Eight in the past eight NCAA Tournaments.
It has struggled with its shooting, finishing less than 36% in its past three games. But it looked like the Gamecocks had found their touch has they hit four of their first five attempts, including two 3-pointers from Destanni Henderson for an 11-2 lead less than three minutes into the game.
North Carolina, which had won nine of its past 11 games, rallied by making 10 of 18 baskets in the opening quarter and led 23-22. That’s when South Carolina called on its historymaking defense to move in front.
Texas 66, Ohio State 63:
Joanne Allen-Taylor scored 17 points, and the Longhorns beat the Buckeyes in Spokane, Wash., to advance to the Elite Eight.
Texas (29-6) will make its second straight appearance in the Elite Eight. The secondseeded Longhorns have won 14 straight games since their last loss, Feb. 6 — the second-longest active streak behind Stanford’s. Kentucky update: Kentucky’s second-leading scorer Dre’una Edwards and teammates Treasure Hunt and Jazmine Massengill will enter the NCAA transfer portal after helping the Wildcats complete a remarkable turnaround with their first women’s basketball SEC tournament title in 40 years.