NCAA FINAL TOURNAMENT FOUR
# 6/5 SOUTH CAROLINA (26-4) VS. STANFORD (29-2)
6 pm (Eastern time) | SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS | ALAMODOME
TV: ESPN | Radio: 107.5 The Game
HISTORY OF THE NCAA GAMECOCK TOURNAMENT
Appearances: 17 (1982, 1986, 1988, 1989,1990, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
General record (Staley Era): 34-15 (26-7)
Sweet 16 Appearances: 11 (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
Elite Eight Appearances: 5 (2002, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021)
The last four appearances: 3 (2015, 2017, 2021)
National championships: 1 (2017)
Italic indicates during Dawn Staley was
ABOUT TODAY’S GAME
Gamecocks are 1-5 of all time against Stanford, with the only win coming in the last meeting of the two teams in the NCAA National Semifinals (2017).
For the second time in this NCAA tournament, South Carolina’s head coach Dawn Staley is facing one of his former US basketball coaches. The first of Staley’s three Olympic gold medals came with Tara VanDerveer at the helm.
South Carolina is playing its third NCAA Final Four in the program’s history, all taking place in the last six tournaments. Gamecocks are 1-1 of all time in national semifinal games.
USC Athletics Communications and Public Relations
GAMECOCK NOTABLES
South Carolina won first place in the NCAA tournament for the fifth time in the last seven tournaments, after playing the country’s toughest schedule. Gamecocks opponents have a combined winning percentage of 0.674, which exceeds LSU, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee.
Gamecocks have been a dominant rebound team all season and have not been hit in one game. They are fourth in the country in rebounds per game (47.2), third in rebound margin (+14.8) and ninth in offensive rebounds (16.1). In 13 games against ranked opponents, these marks are similar at 46.4 rpg, +11.8 margin and 16.8 offensive rpg.
Gamecock’s attacking court came to life at the NCAA Tournament with junior Victaria Saxton (12.8 ppg) and the second Laeticia Amihere (11.0 ppg) raising their scoring averages to double digits at the event. This duo together with Aliyah Boston accounted for 55.4 percent of Gamecocks’ 69.0 points per game.
Athletic’s National Player of the Year and the consensus of the first All-American team Aliyah Boston has been a game changer all year round for the Gamecocks, with an overall double average in the SEC game and against ranked opponents. The NCAA Tournament was not much different, as the striker leads the team with 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the event so far, giving seven assists and winning four steals in four games. Their impact goes beyond their individual statistics, as their defensive presence helped to keep opponents at just 48.5 points per tournament game.
Zia Cooke, guard of the first All-SEC team, took some NCAA Tournament games to establish herself, but exploded in the regional rounds to take the Gamecocks to the Final Four and earn MOP honors from the Hemisfair Region, averaging 16.5 points, 5 , 0 rebounds and 2.5 assists and pitches 46.4 percent, including 6 of 9 in the 3-point range, in the last two games.
Point guard Destanni Henderson led the SEC in assists per game (5.1), adding 12.0 points per game. His pace and defensive pressure have driven Gamecocks throughout the season.
BY NUMBERS
4 Four Gamecocks averaged double-digit points in this NCAA Tournament, including two whose averages exceed their single-digit season marks.
48.5 South Carolina only awarded 48.5 points per game in this NCAA Tournament.
55.7 The Gamecocks scored 55.7 percent of their painting points this season, and that number rises to 57.2 percent in the action of the NCAA Tournament.