GREENVILLE, S.C. — The script has turn out to be routine for South Carolina on this 12 months’s N.C.A.A. girls’s basketball match. Within the first half, South Carolina, the reigning champion, typically appears surprisingly weak, maybe on the verge of its first loss this season, primed to be on the unsuitable facet of a monumental upset in a March that has been stuffed with them.
However within the second half, the Gamecocks put on groups down, and remind everybody why they’re the highest seed and an odds-on favourite to repeat as champions.
The Gamecocks adopted that path once more on Monday evening in entrance of a raucous crowd as they beat second-seeded Maryland, 86-75, to advance to their third straight Closing 4. Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks with 22 factors, 10 rebounds and 5 assists, recording her ninth double-double in an N.C.A.A. match.
On Friday in Dallas, South Carolina will play No. 2 seed Iowa, which is led by the scoring and passing phenom Caitlin Clark.
Lots of South Carolina’s opponents deploy a zone protection, with their guards sagging under the free-throw line to assist defend its huge forwards. Maryland, nonetheless, opted for a unique method.
The Terrapins used a full-court press, which at first appeared like a poor choice however shortly helped Maryland to drive errant passes and rush South Carolina’s offense. Maryland led by 6 after the primary quarter, with South Carolina and Coach Daybreak Staley wanting pissed off and in contrast to the dominant staff that they had been all 12 months.
However South Carolina’s physicality obtained Maryland’s stars into foul hassle. Diamond Miller and the sturdy level guard Shyanne Sellers sat on the bench for a lot of the first half with two fouls. Whereas these two had been out of the sport, Maryland dropped again right into a zone protection, and South Carolina obtained extra snug. Zia Cooke erupted for 9 factors within the second interval, and South Carolina had turned the sport round to guide by 8 at halftime.
The problem with stopping South Carolina, as Maryland discovered on Monday, is its depth. Most championship groups play their stars for almost the complete sport at this level of the season, utilizing reserves primarily to spell starters who get into foul hassle. However South Carolina usually swaps nearly its complete beginning lineup with gamers who’re almost nearly as good and who additionally typically have a dimension benefit over their opponents. Take, for instance, Kamilla Cardoso, a 6-foot-7 heart who was the Atlantic Coast Convention freshman of the 12 months at Syracuse earlier than transferring to South Carolina two seasons in the past and has a reserve function for the Gamecocks.
Cardoso ensures that there isn’t a lot of a drop-off from Boston defensively, and when they’re within the sport on the similar time, it’s normally a block occasion.
Raven Johnson, a second-year guard who was the No. 2 participant in her highschool class, equally comes off the bench behind guards Cooke and Kierra Fletcher.
“Anybody on our bench might begin on any high staff,” Boston mentioned after the staff’s round-of-16 win over U.C.L.A. “However everyone determined to return to play for Coach Staley below this program, and we use it to our benefit.”
That depth was the distinction on Monday. Miller and Boston are projected to be the highest two picks on this 12 months’s W.N.B.A. draft, however Miller’s supporting forged pales as compared. Miller tried to ignite her staff with aggressive drives and protection, however couldn’t shut the deficit. She led all scorers with 24 factors, in seemingly her final sport at Maryland.