SAN ANTONIO – Aliyah Boston scored 19 points and South Carolina’s top seed dominated after a tight first quarter to beat eighth-placed Oregon State 59-42 at the NCAA Women’s Tournament in Alamodome, advancing to seventh Sweet 16 consecutive.
The Gamecocks (24-4) led by one point after a quarter, but had built a 12-point lead at halftime and were 53-29 at the start of the fourth period.
“This is a big boost off our shoulders because it was a tough game,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. “I know the scoreboard doesn’t say that. But … Oregon State is a really good and efficient basketball team. If you allow them to do what they intend to do, they are very good at that.”
South Carolina, who won a national title in 2017, improved to 8-1 in the second round under Staley and will appear in the regional semifinals for the 11th time overall.
“Our players didn’t want to pack up and go home,” said Staley. “They wanted to stay a little longer. Many of them, this is their first tournament experience … and the deeper we go into this tournament, the more experience we have, the better it will be this year as well as in the years to come.”
Taylor Jones scored 13 points for Oregon State (12-8), which ended a streak of four consecutive games on Sweet 16. Jones failed with about three minutes remaining.
Staley’s plan was to get Jones into trouble – and it worked, with Jones limited to 18 minutes.
“We would be in trouble because she could have erased the track that we only had with her production,” said Staley.
Sasha Goforth (Fayetteville) finished with six points and four rebounds for the Beavers.
South Carolina hit just 1 out of 15 three points, but was able to control the game by overcoming the Beavers by 34-24 on the inside and winning big on the exchanges by 50-32.
Gamecocks used a great race to break the tie and lead by 12 points at the break. Boston scored the first four points in that period and Laeticia Amihere added six points while South Carolina took advantage of six turns.
“We just kept pushing,” said Boston. “We never stop attacking, no matter who it is.”
Oregon State got just five points out of 2 out of 12 shots and had 7 turns in the second quarter.
“They’ve been upsetting all day, they’ve closed the gaps defensively very quickly,” said Oregon State coach Scott Rueck. “During an important period of that second quarter [they] turned us around, turned into quick stitches at the other end, which is obviously a staple and a trademark of what they do. That’s when they are at their best. “
The Gamecocks continued to stack up to start the second half, overcoming Oregon State by 13-3 in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the third to make the 43-21.
“They took what we wanted to do in the attack,” said Oregon State Guard Aleah Goodman. “We just weren’t ourselves. It’s a drag. It’s hard to get out like that.”