South Carolina fends off Olivia Miles, TCU to reach another Final Four and set up rematch with UConn
Olivia Miles did everything she could to try to get past Joyce Edwards and South Carolina on Monday night.
It just wasn’t quite enough.
The Gamecocks pulled away in the fourth quarter of their Elite Eight matchup with TCU to grab a 78-52 win and secure a return trip to the Final Four for a sixth straight time. The win not only sets up a battle with No. 1 overall seed UConn, which has been incredibly dominant all season long, but also ensures that all four No. 1 seeds in the tournament have made it through to Phoenix. The Final Four is the exact same field this season as last season, too, something that has happened only once before in history.
Miles and the Horned Frogs got the early jump, and used a 12-4 run to put the Gamecocks down by eight points almost right out of the gate. But that lead didn’t last long.
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South Carolina made eight of its next 12 field goal attempts and took a two-point lead back by the end of the opening quarter. The Horned Frogs only scored once after that on a layup from Miles, and missed eight of their last 10 field goals in the period while shutting down offensively.
South Carolina pushed its lead to eight by halftime, thanks to an Edwards jumper right before the buzzer that capped a long 17-5 run. TCU star Marta Suarez left in the second quarter after she rolled her right ankle, but she returned to start the second half.
Miles went up for a layup late in the third quarter and crashed down hard under the rim, immediately grabbing for the back of her left leg. She eventually got up and limped behind the Horned Frogs bench, where the training staff appeared to be working on her calf. Though Miles made it back to the bench by the end of the period, and was limping significantly getting back into the huddle, South Carolina kept its lead at eight.
Miles entered the game for the start of the fourth quarter, but the Horned Frogs’ momentum was gone. Agot Makeer got a fastbreak layup on an easy steal on the first possession of the period, which pushed the game back to double digits. She got another layup on their next trip down the floor, too, which forced a TCU timeout not even a minute into the quarter.
That ended up sparking a 12-0 run, which suddenly had the Gamecocks up by 20. From there, it was a simple run to the end to pick up the win and punch their ticket to Phoenix.
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UConn-South Carolina rematch is set
Miles finished with 18 points and six assists for the Horned Frogs, who were playing in their second straight Elite Eight. Miles, who transferred to TCU from Notre Dame last offseason and earned Big 12 Player of the Year honors, is widely expected to be a top pick in the WNBA Draft in the coming weeks.
Taylor Bigby finished with 10 points, and was the only other TCU player to hit double figures. Suarez finished with nine points and five rebounds.
Edwards led South Carolina with 24 points and 12 rebounds after she went 10-of-20 from the field, and Makeer finished with a career-high 18 points off the bench. The Gamecocks out-rebounded TCU 52-24, too.
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This will be the second straight time that Gamecocks and Huskies have met in the Final Four. UConn beat South Carolina 82-59 in the national title game last season. While South Carolina will have to get off to a better start if it’s going to have a legitimate chance to knock off UConn — which won its regular season games by an average of 37.8 points — the rematch is set.
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