STOCKTON, Calif. – Sure, South Carolina knew a little something about Quinnipiac’s surprising NCAA Tournament run as Connecticut’s other Sweet 16 team.
The Gamecocks ignored the “Q” on the front of the opposing jersey and immediately went to work.
Kaela Davis, A’ja Wilson and top-seeded South Carolina overpowered the upstarts from the opening tip, scoring the first 16 points and advancing to the Stockton Regional final by beating the 12th-seeded Bobcats, 100-58, on Saturday.
The Bobcats were just the fourth 12 seed to reach the Sweet 16 and the lowest seed in this year’s tournament still playing.
“It doesn’t matter what name is on the jersey, we come out to play. Obviously they had a good run, but we’ve still got a mission to complete, and that’s to make it to the Final Four and national championship,” Allisha Gray declared.
Davis scored 28 points with five 3s, Wilson added 24 and South Carolina’s athleticism and smothering, swarming defense was just too much for Quinnipiac on the Sweet 16 stage. The Bobcats started out 0-for-10 and took more than seven minutes to score as they struggled to get shots off, let alone establish their typically prolific perimeter game.
Gray had 19 points and eight rebounds as South Carolina (30-4) won its eighth in a row, putting coach Dawn Staley’s team in the Elite Eight for the second time in three years.
“I thought our players came out ready to play on both sides of the ball,” Staley said.
The Bobcats (29-7) had won 12 straight games, beating fifth-seeded Marquette and No. 4 Miami for the first two NCAA Tournament wins in school history. The mid-major school became an upset darling as the lesser-known women’s team in its state, prompting UConn Coach Geno Auriemma to wear a Quinnipiac T-shirt on Friday beneath his warmup jacket in support of dear friend and Coach Tricia Fabbri and her program’s special showing.
“We put our school on the map. Not only do they know how to pronounce our school now, they know who we are and what we stand for and what we’re all about,” said Jen Fay, who will return next season looking for more.
(1) UConn 86, (4) UCLA 71
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Napheesa Collier had 27 points and 14 rebounds to help UConn beat UCLA, putting the Huskies in the Bridgeport Regional final.
The victory was the 110th straight for the No. 1 Huskies, who will face 10th-seeded Oregon on Monday night.
Buoyed by the success of their Pac-12 partner, the fourth-seed Bruins jumped out a 9-2 lead over UConn (35-0) before the Huskies scored 17 of the next 19 points. The seven-point deficit matched the Huskies’ largest this season.
The Huskies led by nine after one quarter and 17 at the half.
The victory tied Geno Auriemma with Pat Summitt for most NCAA Tournament victories. The two Hall of Fame coaches have 112 tournament victories.
Jordin Canada had 20 points and 11 assists for UCLA (25-9).
(10) Oregon 77, (3) Maryland 63
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Sabrina Ionescu led five Oregon players in double figures with 21 points and the Ducks continued their improbable run through the NCAA Tournament.
Fellow freshman Ruthy Hebard added 16 points for the Ducks (23-13), who beat second-seeded Duke in the second round and advance to the first regional final in program history.
Brionna Jones and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough each had 16 points for Maryland, which finishes the season at 32-3.
The Maryland offense, which averages more than 90 points a game to lead the nation, was held to its lowest point total this season
Oregon Coach Kelly Graves said before the game that his young team that starts three freshmen may not know it’s not supposed to be winning. The Ducks became the second No. 10 seed to advance to a regional final, joining the 1991 Lamar team.
(3) Florida State 66, (2) Oregon State 53
STOCKTON, Calif. – Ivey Slaughter started swiping to help Florida State discover its best defense from all angles, and the Seminoles erased a daunting deficit and ran right into the Stockton Regional final.
Slick-handed Slaughter had a career-high nine steals, a school record in the NCAA Tournament. Florida State had 16 steals total, and Slaughter also contributed 11 points and eight rebounds.
Sydney Wiese, the Beavers’ leading scorer, wound up with just nine points on 3-for-14 shooting and missed all 10 of her 3-point tries in her final collegiate game. Oregon State (31-5) missed a return trip to the Final Four.