ucla vs uconn TAMPA, Fla. -- South Carolina has finally reached the moment it played for all season: The Gamecocks are in the national championship game, with a chance to make history.
After overcoming another slow start, South Carolina blitzed Texas with a decisively dominant third quarter to put the game out of reach, winning 74-57 on Friday to clinch its spot in the title game Sunday.
South Carolina will now attempt to repeat as national champion for the first time in school history. The last team to win back-to-back titles was UConn, which won four straight from 2013 to 2016.
South Carolina continued its dominance over Texas, winning the season series 3-1. The past two postseason games between them — the SEC tournament championship and the national semifinal — were not particularly close. Once again, South Carolina found ways to break down the vaunted Texas defense, using transition buckets, points in the paint and timely 3-point shooting to win comfortably.
Dawn Staley is now 8-0 all-time in postseason games against Texas coach Vic Schaefer.
After struggling in the past three rounds of the NCAA tournament, freshman Joyce Edwards showed off what made her such a dynamic player this season, making huge plays once again on the offensive and defensive ends.
Last week in Birmingham, Staley said the Gamecocks would need more production from Edwards to win a national championship and simplified a few things for her to get going.
ucla vs uconn :- Whatever the coaches told her worked, as Edwards had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. But it might have been senior Te-Hina Paopao who played her best game. Paopao scored 14 points and was 3-of-4 from 3 as Texas struggled to guard her.
The game turned in the third quarter, when South Carolina outscored Texas 20-9, including an 11-0 run late in the quarter that essentially sealed the win.
ucla vs uconn :- South Carolina came out flat to start the game, but its fortunes shifted when Booker, the SEC Player of the Year, picked up her second foul with 3:04 left in the first quarter.
Texas had a five-point lead at the time, but South Carolina outscored the Longhorns to close the quarter and take the lead.
ucla vs uconn :- Booker returned to the game with five minutes to play in the second quarter, and Texas was able to take back the lead. But with 2:29 to go before halftime, Booker picked up her third foul — the first time in her career she had three fouls in the first half of a game — after Tessa Johnson landed hard on a pass. Booker and Schaefer both took issue with the foul, yelling to the officials, “That’s a bad call!” Replay showed minimal contact between the players.
Booker played only nine minutes, and her presence was clear. With Booker in the game, Texas had a plus-eight advantage; With Booker on the bench, Texas was minus-11.
For Staley and her Gamecocks, though, it’s another opportunity to make history.