South Carolina’s lost fall sends Stanford into the NCAA women’s tournament championship game

SAN ANTONIO – South Carolina coach Dawn Staley still remembers all the details, since losing a point to Stanford in the national semifinals 29 years ago, when she was a senior point guard in Virginia.

So she knows exactly how Aliyah Boston and the rest of her Gamecocks players felt when they left the Alamodome court in tears after a 66-65 loss to Stanford on Friday in the Women’s Final Four.

Brea Beal lost a tray and then an attempt to retreat from Boston when the time expired, and the cardinal escaped in a battle among the top finishers. Stanford advances to Sunday’s championship game to try to win the program’s third NCAA title, which would be the cardinal’s first since 1992.

“A moment or two like that doesn’t define who she is as a player,” said Staley of Boston’s sophomore striker. “So, I hope she gets over it. She won’t get over it for long.”

In fact, Boston put his hands on his head and started to sob after his shot hit the back of the rim and bounced off.

“She’s a perfectionist. That’s why it hurt so much, because it’s something that she practices all the time,” said Staley. “She is not the type of player who will allow the shot to affect her next shot, her next move in her basketball journey. But when she comes back to her room, she will cry. I know that. She will cry a lot. But when the time comes for us to resume the situation and return to the court in a few weeks, she will move on. “

But Gamecocks will not move to the title game. This will be Stanford, who was beaten by 40-36 and beaten by 9-5 in one of the Cardinal’s specialties, the 3-point shot. The eight long-distance cardinal’s attempts have been the smallest in a game since February 2017.

But the cardinal still triumphed after a frantic end.

Haley Jones, who led Stanford with 24 points and went 11-of-14 off the field, got what proved to be the winning basket with 32 seconds left when he picked up a lost ball after a Stanford mistake and hit a shot.

“Haley Jones was a problem for us,” said Staley. “She is a guard. We had our post-game players with her most of the night. She took advantage of that.”

After a timeout, South Carolina inbound the ball and Boston had a blocked shot by Cameron Brink, but managed his own rebound before a steal from Ashten Prechtel returned the ball to Stanford.

After two fouls in South Carolina, the cardinal passed the ball to Brink, who looked like he was waiting to be knocked down. Instead, as she tried to dribble out of a double team, the ball fled from her, Boston grabbed it and passed it to Beal, who entered the tray.

Beal’s shot missed, but it jumped straight into Boston’s hands, who missed the bell strike.

“It was in our hands,” said Zia Cooke, who led South Carolina with 25 points, “but we fell short.”

This is Stanford’s 14th Final Four, and the Cardinal has one of his best saves in Coach Tara VanDerveer’s 35 seasons at Stanford. This caused problems for Gamecocks all night, as they finished 11 of 37 in the painting. The last two fouls were the most dramatic.

“I mean, you have to hold the ball at the end of the game. Cam was very upset with herself for escaping,” said VanDerveer. “But they had two beautiful looks. This is one of those who survive and advance. It wasn’t a pretty game for us, but that’s credit to South Carolina, how aggressive they are, how athletic they are. learn from it and play better. “

Boston, Beal and Cooke are all in their second year playing in their first NCAA tournament, having lost last year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Staley knows he has a lot of talent coming back, but also how much of a tough ending can be for players.

Asked how she would help Boston overcome her last mistake, Staley reflected on the last game of her college career, and the chance she launched just before the bell against VanDerveer and Stanford in the 1992 national semifinals. She still thinks about that mistake, questioning himself for not taking advantage of his defender and trying to score a foul.

The final score for this loss to Stanford was the same as on Friday: 66-65

“So this stays with me. This is 29 years later,” said Staley, who finally got his national championship with Gamecocks in 2017. “But from 29 years ago to now, I mean, there are so many great memories that replace that. It just comes up. when they ask me.

“Aliyah will get over it. Aliyah is a great player. Aliyah will come back stronger, the better. If she ever puts herself in this position again, she will take down.”