The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
South Carolina takes rematch of NCAA final
Aliyah Boston scored 23 of her 26 points in the second half, including 14 in the fourth quarter, to help No. 1 South Carolina beat No. 5 Uconn 81-77 on Sunday.
The Gamecocks (23-0) have won 29 consecutive games since losing to Kentucky in the SEC Tournament title game last year. They’ve won four of the past five with the Huskies, including a victory in the NCAA championship game last season. That ended Uconn’s perfect 11-0 record in title games.
South Carolina used its size again to top the Huskies. The 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso and Boston helped the Gamecocks to a 42-30 advantage on the boards, including 25 offensive rebounds.
Boston finished with 11 rebounds for the 76th double-double of her career. Cardoso added 17 points and 11 rebounds before fouling out.
With her team leading by four in the fourth quarter, Boston took over. She scored the next 12 points for South Carolina. Two of those came when Uconn coach Geno Auriemma, frustrated with the officiating, got a technical foul for spiking a water bottle onto the court.
Boston hit the two free throws. She then hit a jumper, a 3-pointer and another basket to give the Gamecocks a double-digit advantage, much to the disappointment of the sellout crowd, the first at the XL Center since 2017.
Despite seeing their starting backcourt foul out, the short-handed Huskies (21-3) wouldn’t go away. They whittled the lead to 80-77 with 10.8 seconds left on Aubrey Griffin’s three-point play. Raven Johnson hit the first of two free throws a second later and Uconn couldn’t convert to close out the game
Aaliyah Edwards led Uconn with 25 points.
Uconn got off to a solid start, leading 25-14 after the opening period. South Carolina tied the game at 34 heading into the half.
No. 6 Iowa 95, (at) Penn State 51: Caitlin Clark had 23 points, 14 assists and 10 rebounds to lead Iowa. Monika Czinano scored 14 points and Kate Martin added 11 for the Hawkeyes (19-4, 11-1 Big Ten), who took the lead midway through the first quarter and pulled away in a lopsided second half to win their eighth straight game.
Taniyah Thompson led Penn State (13-11, 4-9) with 11 points while Leilani Kapinus had 10. Kapinus, Makenna Marisa and Shay Ciezki, all averaging double figures this season, combined to go 2 for 15 from the floor in the first quarter. No. 16 Duke 57, (at) No.
9 Notre Dame 52: Celeste Taylor scored 14 points and Duke came from behind for a victory. Trailing for most of the first 28 minutes, the Blue Devils (20-3, 8-2 ACC) took the lead for good in the final two minutes of the third quarter to knock off the Fighting Irish (18-4, 9-2). Maddy Westbeld led Notre Dame with 15 points.
(At) Louisville 62, No. 11 North Carolina 55: Chrislyn Carr scored 11 of her 17 points in the third quarter and Louisville ended North Carolina’s eight-game winning streak. Hailey Van Lith also had 17 points for the Cardinals (17-8, 8-4 ACC), who made 9 of 12 free throws in the fourth quarter of a game that was mostly a defensive struggle. Deja Kelly scored 13 points but was just 3-of16 shooting for the Tar Heels (17-6, 8-4).