ALBANY, N.Y. – South Carolina women’s basketball held off a furious comeback bid to hold off Indiana, 79-75, in the Sweet 16 Friday at MVP Arena to advance to a fourth-consecutive Elite Eight.
The No. 4-seeded Hoosiers (26-6) cut the No. 1-seeded Gamecocks‘ lead all the way down to two points in the last minute of the game, but South Carolina (35-0) turned to sophomore guard Raven Johnson to ice the game.
Johnson hit a 3-pointer and a free throw to put it out of Indiana’s reach and finished with 14 points. Senior center Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points to lead the Gamecocks.
South Carolina entered the fourth quarter disjointed and out of sorts, unable to make a shot to open the period as Indiana cut the deficit to five points at the final media timeout.
After building a lead up to 17 points at halftime, South Carolina started the second half hot. A Johnson 3-pointer made it a 22-point game, but Indiana made six consecutive field goals to narrow the deficit to 13.
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The Gamecocks ended the first quarter on a 14-3 run, capping off a hot shooting start in which they made 5-of-7 3-pointers.
Kamilla Cardoso dominates Indiana in the paint
Cardoso took advantage of a size advantage over the Hoosiers.
Cardoso, who at 6-foot-7 had a four-inch advantage over Indiana’s lineup, proved hard for the Hoosiers to match up with. She provided the most consistent scoring option for the Gamecocks and was as efficient as ever, going 10-for-12 from the field.
South Carolina struggles to slow 3-point onslaught
Indiana, who entered the game as the No. 3 team in the country in 3-point shooting percentage, shot 33 3-pointers in an effort to avoid South Carolina’s forwards and spread the floor. The Hoosiers finished with 39% from that range on 13-for-33 shooting.
The Gamecocks struggled to slow the shooting, especially in the second half, where the Hoosiers shot 7-for-16 from beyond the arc to cut away at the lead.
South Carolina builds first half lead with vastly different quarters
The Gamecocks took two entirely different game plans into the first and second quarter.
The Gamecocks shot 5-of-7 from 3-point range in the first quarter to build an 11-point gap. When the opportunities to shoot from deep dried up in the second quarter, they turned inside, scoring 18 points in the paint.
First appeared on www.greenvilleonline.com