South Carolina reaches Elite 8
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Zia Cooke didn’t have to get close to Dawn Staley to know what she was asking her to do.
In fact, pleading might be a more accurate descriptor.
No. 1 South Carolina’s junior sharpshooter had just turned down an open look the possession before. As Staley has said before about Cooke, she wants her to take the good ones.
Cooke promptly responded to Staley’s imploring with burying a 3-pointer just seconds later. She then proceeded to make three of her next six attempts en route to posting 15 points.
No. 5 North Carolina had been leading before the 3-pointer she knocked down early in the second and the spark it gave USC, it never could recover.
The Gamecocks, who had missed their previous five shots before Cooke went on a tear, went on to win, 69-61, inside Greensboro Coliseum Friday night advancing to the Greensboro Regional Final set for Sunday.
Zia Cooke offensive burst perfectly timed
The junior has been a streaky shooter for the better part of this season. And coming into the Gamecocks’ Sweet Sixteen matchup with UNC, she was meandering through struggles, going 5 of her last 24 shot attempts.
She knocked down her first shot, a 3, against the Tar Heels but was still playing timid. Until the encouragement from Staley early in the second quarter.
Cooke immediately started playing freer on offense, more aggressive and more willingness to shoot first. That mental switch netted 15 crucial first-half points.
UNC Tar Heels went right at South Carolina defense early
South Carolina might have had a historic defensive start to this NCAA Tournament,
allowing just 54 points through the first two rounds, but the Heels were not deterred.
From the first bounce, UNC ran it right at Aliyah Boston, Kamilla Cardoso and Victaria Saxton in the paint, scoring 14 of its first 23 points in the opening period from there.
The Gamecocks had to adjust to North Carolina’s racing speed behind guards Deja Kelly and Alyssa Ustby on every trip in the early going. Between the first and second quarters, Staley and her staff adjusted, face-guarding Kelly while sinking deeper and crowding the lane to take away cuts.
It paid off as UNC made one field goal in the second quarter.
Aliyah Boston secures 27th straight double-double
She had 7 points, 7 boards in the first quarter. Extending her double-double streak to 27 consecutive games felt like a given at that point for the Gamecocks star forward.
Boston remained a handful on the glass all game long. Offensively, she had a stretch where she went silent in the second quarter but coming out of the locker room, USC put an emphasis on getting her the ball, to which she promptly responded.
A made putback gave her 11 points on the night midway through the third quarter, securing the double-double. Boston ended with 28 points and 21 rebounds, a season-high for the National Player of the Year frontrunner.
South Carolina missed layups down the stretch a cause for concern
The game likely could’ve been over early in the fourth, but missed layups allowed UNC to creep back into the game, cutting the deficit to 59-54 halfway through the final period.
USC botched a few gimmes in the early stages of the fourth, while on the other end the Tar Heels were shooting better than 50 percent, including a couple of 3’s.
Staley’s group will need to generate some efficiency late in games at the basket from here on out to return to the Final Four as it aims to do.
What’s next for South Carolina in NCAA Tournament
With the victory, No. 1 South Carolina advances to the Greensboro Regional Championship where it’ll meet No. 10 seed Creighton, a 76-68 winner against No. 3 seed Iowa State, at 7 p.m. Sunday (ESPN).