GREENVILLE, S.C. — The Gamecocks are headed to Dallas.
The No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball team defeated Maryland 86-75 on Monday in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Tournament.
They advance to the Final Four and will face the Iowa Hawkeyes. The game will be played Friday in Dallas.
Maryland took control of Monday’s game early on, limiting South Carolina’s opportunities in the paint. The Gamecocks were 4-of-11 on layups and struggled to get open looks. The Terrapins employed a full-court press that disrupted USC’s flow.
The Terrapins found their own rhythm on offense, shooting 7-of-14 from the floor and leading 21-15 in the first quarter.
But South Carolina (36-0) flipped the script in the second quarter. The team held Maryland (28-7) to nine points in the period and forced it into four turnovers.
The Gamecocks led by eight at halftime due mostly to the offense of Aliyah Boston, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Gamecocks scored 23 points in the second quarter and 24 points in the third.
Abby Meyers and Diamond Miller were the primary contributors for Maryland, but the Terrapins couldn’t keep up with the scoring pace of South Carolina.
BOSTON AND COOKE CARRY LOAD
Boston and Zia Cooke elevated for the Gamecocks in the Elite Eight.
Boston kept a steady diet of midrange jumpers and inside shots to get to her mark of 20 points. She also blocked and altered shots at the rim on the defensive end. Boston made great passes throughout the night and finished with five assists.
Cooke was getting her jumper to fall for South Carolina. She finished with 18 points against Maryland. Cooke is now up to a career-high 63 3-point makes on the season after her two triples on Monday.
SECOND QUARTER SWITCH
The Gamecocks got going in the second quarter after they figured out Maryland’s full-court pressure.
USC shot 7-of-14 in the quarter and went 8-of-14 from the free throw line. Six of the seven made shots came from assists, and the team turned the ball over just once in that span.
South Carolina regained the lead after a 9-2 run, and mostly stayed in front from that point on.
BACK IN THE FINAL FOUR
South Carolina will play in its fifth Final Four in program history. Each appearance came under Dawn Staley.
The team will face 2-seed Iowa from the Seattle 4 region. The Hawkeyes defeated SE Louisiana, Georgia, Colorado and Louisville to advance to Dallas.
Iowa is led by Caitlin Clark, who is considered a front runner for the National Player of the Year award. Clark recorded the first 40-point triple-double in NCAA Tournament history in the Elite Eight game against the Cardinals.
The Gamecocks are 2-2 all time in Final Four games, with the wins in 2017 and 2022 resulting in national championships.
