South Carolina’s Brea Beal drives to the basket during the fourth quarter of the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women’s Tournament against Maryland on March 27, 2023 at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina. (Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
South Carolina is heading into a third straight Final Four with a shot at a second straight national championship and feels as inevitable as ever.
The top-ranked Gamecocks defeated No. 2-seeded Maryland 86-75 in the Elite Eight on Monday, won the Greenville 1 Regional and faced Iowa in Friday’s Final Four in Dallas. Their unbeaten streak now stands at 41 games.
The 11-point lead was South Carolina’s narrowest win since the regular-season finale against Georgia on February 26.
Victory stayed true to the South Carolina brand. Aliyah Boston, likely WNBA #1 overall pick, led by 22 points. The Gamecocks dominated the boards, passing the Terrapins 48-26 and catching 25 of their 38 misses. Facing a strong Maryland attack, their defense held the opponent back 51% of the time when shooting on layups.
Even if only 45.7% was shot in South Carolina, it didn’t matter. Its size almost always presents other teams with an insurmountable math problem – how do you outperform an elite defensive team that has recovered 48.8% of their missed shots on Monday? — and Maryland had no answer.
For most of the first half, Maryland at least looked like they had a chance, stripping paint on offense to keep South Carolina centerbacks from clogging the lane, but the Gamecocks were with by the end of the half 8 points ahead and grabbed a double-digit lead early in the third quarter.
By then, the writing was on the wall, especially when Maryland’s Abby Meyers picked up their third and fourth fouls in back-to-back games. Meyers had a great game but eventually fell short with 14 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
Next comes Caitlin Clark in a matchup between a 40-point triple-double force and a seemingly immobile object.
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