Aliyah Boston had 23 points and 18 rebounds for its 29th double-double this season. The consensus national player of the year led the Gamecocks to the national championship game a year after a heartbreaking one-point defeat in the semifinals. South Carolina advances to second NCAA title game. In their only other appearance, Gamecocks won the NCAA title in 2017. South Carolina, the number one. The Gamecocks improved to 34-2, matching a season-long winning streak. Louisville finished the season 29-5. Senior forward Emily Engstler led the Cardinals with 18 points, nine rebounds and four steals. Engstler finished the tournament with 23 steals, matching Ticha Penicheiro’s record in a 1998 tournament. The Women’s Final Four continues on Friday, as the top standard, the 2021 national champion, faces UConn in the night glass. ESPN’s Katie Barnes, Charlie Creme and Alexa Philippo overthrow South Carolina’s victory. I’m playing 0:18 Destanni Henderson comes in big as she shoots another three-pointer for South Carolina. South Carolina responded every time Louisville did a run. What were the big adjustments the Gamecocks made to beat the Cardinals? Cream: Boston. Whenever South Carolina needs something big, it’s always Boston. The Gamecocks were in complete control with a 15-point lead in the third quarter and then lost with the ball. The guards made four caps and there were some missed leaps. Louisville reached six, and suddenly it was a game again. Then Boston did its job. In a 30-second stretch that bled in the fourth quarter, Boston scored five points and grabbed four offensive rebounds. He took over the paint and the boards, and the lead went up to 11. Louisville never threatened again. Hailey Van Lith scored 20 points in all four of Louisville’s four NCAA games to advance to the Final Four, but never made it to Friday, with just two points in the first half. How did South Carolina upset her? 2 About Barnes: Brea Beal attacked Hailey Van Lith early on, disrupting everything the sophomore in Louisville tried to do. Beal, a 6-foot junior guard, blocked two of Van Lith’s first shot attempts, turning them into goal opportunities for South Carolina. The Beal is a stellar defender, but its size and length also forced a smaller Van Lith to make more adjustments to overtake it. And as a smaller guard – Van Lith refers to the 5-foot 7 – the size of South Carolina in the lane and Bill in the perimeter just drowned out all levels of her game. Van Lith could not really get into the paint. could not get a traction jump. and attempted three 3-point shots throughout the game (all late in the fourth quarter). Van Lith fought hard until she retired from the game, but South Carolina disappointed her with success early on and never recovered. What was the statistic that made the difference? Filippou: None of these teams like to get three-pointers like, say, Creighton, but Louisville only hits one bar – and attempts only eight archers throughout the game, including three in the last minute! – while South Carolina had made five in the middle of the third quarter was a factor of difference. Check your bracket now that the Final Four of the NCAA Women’s Tournament has been set. Play Tournament Challenge Entering the game, Louisville averaged six three-pointers in 17 attempts from deep per game. The fact that they attempted just five 3-pointers in the last minute is proof of how uncomfortable the South Carolina defense made them. The Gamecocks 35% of the 3 clip is not very impressive, but guards Destanni Henderson and Zia Cooke started 5-for-10 from the bow, which opened the game. If the Gamecocks can hit 3s Sunday early as they did on Friday, they will be well placed to cut the nets. It should also be noted that Beal (12 points, 5-before-7 shots) was productive not only defensively but also offensively, taking advantage of the open shots given by the Louisville defense which was very busy with Boston. Beal has now finished with a double double for the first time this season. What should South Carolina do even better in Sunday’s championship game? Barnes: South Carolina did almost everything well on Friday night. The only area where Gamecocks could be improved is the care of basketball. South Carolina averaged 14.4 volumes per game and the Gamecocks were above average against Louisville by 15 volumes. The Cardinals converted those extra holdings to 13 points at the other end. Aside from the twists and turns, there were stretches when the guards just seemed careless with the ball – throwing skip passes hanging in the air or trying to pass too many needles. Not all of these decisions came in turnovers, but on Sunday, that may not be the case.
