Stanford survived a late turn and two South Carolina winning looks to advance to the NCAA women’s basketball championship game. The cardinal won 66-65 and advances to his fifth game for the title in the program’s history.
They will continue to extend the 3-point tournament record that the Cardinal set on Friday. They were 5-to-8 as a team and broke the previous team mark of 54 set by UConn. They are currently 55.
South Carolina misses final chances
The Gamecocks made an expensive 15-second turn to play when Destanni Henderson was prevented from driving and attempted a pass to Aliyah Boston at the perimeter. Ashten Prechtel intervened to steal.
Stanford then came around the top in the opening play and Boston picked up the ball while surrounded in the middle of the court. She handed the ball to Brea Beal, who failed to get past Stanford’s defender and missed the shot on the left. He jumped back into the painting, where Boston was recovering, and his recoil was very deep.
It was a heartbreaking end and similar to South Carolina’s defeat to Connecticut earlier this year. The team missed four last-ditch attempts in this one.
“We got two pretty decent visions,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said after the game. “I thought about the UConn game, I thought it would be a redemption for Aliyah, just for the ball to go in. But that was not in the cards for us.”
Gamecocks lost by a few buckets against Stanford for most of the game, but took the lead late and had his chances.
Jones gives Stanford a late lead
Stanford’s defense left Destanni Henderson unprepared at first and she made them pay in the second half. His 3 points with 2:50 to play cut South Carolina’s deficit to one, 60-59. Kiana Williams responded with a jump and Stanford scored in the transition on a missed shot in the middle of the court that pushed his lead, 64-59.
Henderson responded again with an e-1 after Boston, playing with four fouls, received the rebound. The defense forced Lexie Hull on a turnover and Brea Beal took the distance, only to find Stanford’s Haley Jones. Henderson made it to the perimeter and his third 3-point basket gave South Carolina their first advantage since the first quarter, 65-64.
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Jones, Stanford’s strong offensive power in the semifinal, hit a jumper after a series of frantic rebounds that proved to be the winner of the game.
Stanford has depth and height, preventing South Carolina guards from entering the painting. They matched for 12 blocks, led by six for freshman Cameron Brink, and had a narrow recovery, 40-36. The Cardinal forced the Gamecocks to rely on the perimeter shot and they couldn’t take it long enough.
Jones leads Stanford; Cooke leads Gamecocks
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Stanford point guard Haley Jones (30) celebrates after making a basket during the second half of a women’s NCAA Final Four college basketball semifinal match against South Carolina on Friday, April 2, 2021, at the Alamodome in San Antonio. (AP Photo / Eric Gay)
Haley Jones led the way to Stanford with 24 points from 11 of 14 shots. She had four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block, even while sitting on the bench in the second half, with two initial fouls. She was the ideal player for a team full of talent.
Lexis Hull scored 18 points out of 4 out of 17 shots, adding 13 rebounds and 8 out of 8 on the free-throw line. Senior Kiana Williams had a quiet night with eight points and Prechtel kept his big contributions off the bench with nine points and eight rebounds.
The cardinal overcame South Carolina for most of the game and was unable to contain Zia Cooke in the perimeter. Cooke had 25 points out of 10 out of 23 shots and hit five out of eight points out of 3. She made the offense happen for South Carolina.
Boston had an 11 point double-double and 16 rebounds. She was in and out for most of the fourth time after receiving four fouls and had to play differently, which benefited Stanford in the end.
Stanford responds to a great start in South Carolina
Stanford came off wobbly again, making four spins and five missed shots, 15-6, in the first half of the game’s media. Then it was South Carolina’s turn to take a quiet stroll. Gamecocks entered a nine-minute goalless streak when Stanford tied, 15-15, in the first half and slowly built a 17-2 run to get back in the game.
The Cardinal started to score 3 points, most of his game in this tournament, and tied the tournament series record of 54 until the break. They had a 31-25 lead at halftime, largely without Jones, their great creator.
Jones scored or helped 12 of Stanford’s 15 points in the first quarter, according to ESPN Stats and Information, but committed his second foul at the end of the period.
Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer was able to keep her on the bench for the entire second half, even while Boston, which had four blocks, put the wall in the painting. Ashten Prechtel came off the bench to score seven points and seven of 23 rebounds. It was rare for Gamecocks to be defeated on the boards.
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