CLEVELAND — Even with five new starters this season, the powerful South Carolina Gamecocks earned a chance to win their third national championship in the past seven NCAA Tournaments.
Thanks to a dominant third quarter, the No. 1 Gamecocks routed the No. 3 North Carolina State Wolfpack 78-59 on Friday night to advance to the final on Sunday.
South Carolina will face off with another No. 1 seed, Iowa, which edged No. 3 UConn 71-69 in the second semifinal.
Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting and collected 11 rebounds and Ashlyn Watkins grabbed a career-high 20 rebounds for South Carolina (37-0).
“It’s an, ‘I don’t want to lose, I don’t want our season to end in any way, except the way I envisioned, and that’s winning the national championship,'” Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. “And when you can put your play behind your vision, it makes a beautiful memory.”
Raven Johnson scored 13 points and Te-Hina Paopao added 10 points and six assists for the Gamecocks, who are 73-1 over the past two seasons.
Watkins’ work on the boards was pivotal as South Carolina held a 46-32 rebounding edge.
“I think it was just doing whatever I could to help the team,” Watkins said. “That wasn’t really a goal of mine, but I just went out there and played my best basketball.”
Aziaha James scored 20 points for North Carolina State (31-7), which was part of the Final Four for just the second time. River Baldwin recorded 12 points and nine rebounds, and Zoe Brooks also had 12 points for the Wolfpack, who shot just 32.3 percent from the floor and 6 of 23 (26.1 percent) from 3-point range.
“We’ve had an unbelievable season,” NC State coach Wes Moore said of the program’s second 30-win campaign in three seasons. “I’m proud of these young ladies, the run we’ve been on. This stinks to end it this way. But I’m sure after we’ve had a little bit of time away from it and can reflect, we have a lot to be proud of.”
South Carolina shot 50 percent from the floor, including 8 of 19 (42.1 percent) from behind the arc.
The Gamecocks outscored North Carolina State 29-6 in the third quarter to turn a competitive first half into a one-sided contest. South Carolina led 32-31 at halftime.
Paopao and Johnson hit 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the quarter as the Gamecocks took a 42-32 lead.
Baldwin made two free throws as the Wolfpack crept within 44-36 with 7:08 left, before South Carolina closed the period with a 17-1 burst. Paopao and Bree Hall sank treys in the final minute of the quarter to make it 61-37.
“They just punched us in the mouth in the third quarter,” James said. “I felt like the third quarter really hurt us. I feel like we could have fought harder. It was 6-29. We can’t let things like that happen to win a championship.”
The Gamecocks made 12 of 20 shots in the period, including 5 of 9 from 3-point range. NC State was 1 of 11 and missed all four of its shots from behind the arc.
“I like the fact that we turned up the heat,” Staley said. “I mean, we put a lot more pressure on them to go deeper in their offense. We put a lot more pressure on the basketball, especially their point guards, the people that were initiating their offense.
“So if you get them to play a little bit outside of their comfort zone, you’re disrupting and dictating.”
The fourth quarter was a mere formality, and Cardoso sat out the entire 10 minutes.
Cardoso scored 12 of her points in the second quarter, but NC State hung tough.
The Wolfpack led 16-13 late in the first quarter before MiLaysia Fulwiley drained a tying 3-pointer with 23 seconds remaining.
Cardoso then scored South Carolina’s first 12 points of the second quarter. The Gamecocks led by six before NC State rallied to tie it at 30 on a 3-pointer by Mimi Collins with 1:04 to go before the break.
–Field Level Media
