Canada's Laeticia Amihere swats 9 shots to help South Carolina reach Final 4
Stanford takes down Louisville to ensure Canadians on each semifinal squad
One by one, South Carolina players walked through the confetti and climbed the ladder to cut down the net in the Alamodome.
It was only fitting that the Gamecocks got to keep the nylon. They used it way more than Texas did.
Zia Cooke scored 16 points and South Carolina used its stifling defence to advance to the Final Four for the third time, shutting down Texas for a 62-34 victory Tuesday night.
Stanford's win later Tuesday meant there would be Canadians on each of the Final Four teams. Besides Amihere, there's sixth woman of the year Aaliyah Edwards on UConn, Alyssa Jerome of Stanford and Arizona's Shaina Pellington.
The Gamecocks have been on a mission ever since they felt they were denied a real chance at the national title last season when the NCAA Tournament was cancelled because of the pandemic. It showed all night long, but especially during the first scoreless quarter in the tourney since the women's game went to quarters in 2016.
"It says they're locked in," South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said. "They have been focused, they wanted the opportunity to get to the Final Four. They know nothing about what they just accomplished. I like who we're bringing into this Final Four."
South Carolina (26-4) won the Hemisfair Region to advance to Friday's national semifinal against No. 1 Stanford in a rematch of the 2017 national semifinals. Stanford dropped that one 62-53, ending its previous appearance in the Final Four. UConn and Arizona meet in the other national semifinal.
Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton each scored 12 for the Gamecocks, and Amihere, from Mississauga, Ont., also had 10 points and eight rebounds in a terrific all-around performance.
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South Carolina ran out to an 19-point lead in the third quarter, and responded to a Texas run with a burst started by a 3-pointer from Henderson. Then it put a lid on basket in the fourth.
"We don't back down from anyone," Cooke said. "We just made sure that we put our foot on the gas, kept our guard up and did what we needed to do."
Staley ran her championship game record against Texas' Vic Schaefer to 6-0, dating to when they faced each other in the SEC when Schaefer was at Mississippi State. That includes beating Schaefer in the 2017 national final.
"They can test you at everything that you do. Whether 3-point range or at the rim," Schaefer said. "That's a reflection of Dawn. To me, those kids really embody probably how she was as a player."
Stanford comes back to down Louisville
After one of Stanford's worst halves of the season, coach Tara VanDerveer challenged her team to just compete.
The Cardinal responded.
Lexie Hull had 21 points, Ashten Prechtel scored each of her 16 in the second half and Stanford reached the Final Four by rallying for a 78-63 victory over Louisville on Tuesday night.
"To play a second half and beat them by 27 really says a lot about how hard people were playing," VanDerveer said. "How much they wanted to do it for each other. They were willing to listen to me, My dad would always say it's not the start of the race, but the finish."
Stanford (29-2) trailed by 12 midway through the third quarter before scoring 13 consecutive points to take its first lead since early in the game. Prechtel was a big part of that success after she didn't play in the first half.
"Ashten was a two-way player, her 3 was the shot that just said alright we're back," VanDerveer said. "We can win this game. Really exciting to see her play well. She's been doing great things for us all year. She really picked a great time to shine."
The teams traded baskets the rest of the period, and No 2 seed Louisville (26-4) was up 50-48 heading into the final quarter.
The Cardinal scored the first 10 points of the fourth to go up 58-50. The run was started by a Prechtel 3-pointer.
"For sure, it was tough not to play in the first half. I was nervous," Prechtel said. "We didn't want to go home. Coming out of halftime, there was urgency."
The win moves the Cardinal one step closer to VanDerveer's first national championship since 1992 and No. 3 overall.
