No. 1 seed South Carolina put on a dominating display in the first half but barely held on in the fourth quarter to defeat No. 4 seed Indiana 79-75 in the Albany 1 Region semifinal of the NCAA Tournament on Friday in Albany, N.Y.
The Hoosiers turned the 17-point halftime deficit into just a two-point margin on Mackenzie Holmes’ layup with 1:08 to play. Raven Johnson hit a critical 3-pointer on the Gamecocks’ next possession to stem the tide.
Kamilla Cardoso put up 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds for South Carolina (35-0), which advances to meet Oregon State in the regional final on Sunday. Johnson added 14 points, six assists and five rebounds.
Sydney Parrish paced Indiana (26-6) with 21 points, while Yarden Garzon added 16 points.
ALBANY 1 REGION
No. 3 Oregon State 70, No. 2 Notre Dame 65
All-American Raegan Beers’ layup with 29 seconds left was enough to allow the Beavers to squeeze past the Fighting Irish in the Albany 1 region semifinal of the Women’s NCAA Tournament.
For the Beavers (27-7), it was their first-ever win against the Irish (28-7) as they advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2018. Next up for Oregon State is a matchup against top-seeded South Carolina (35-0) on Sunday.
Timea Gardiner led the Beavers with 21 points plus 11 rebounds, followed by Beers, who scored 18 and had 13 rebounds For Notre Dame, freshman All-American Hannah Hidalgo was held to 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting. Teammate Sonia Citron scored 22 points and had a team-leading seven rebounds.
PORTLAND 4 REGION
No. 1 Texas 69, No. 4 Gonzaga 47
Aaliyah Moore had a terrific all-around game and the Longhorns used suffocating defense to throttle the Bulldogs in the Portland 4 Region semifinals.
Moore collected 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists for the No. 1 seed Longhorns (33-4) as they advanced to an Elite Eight matchup with North Carolina State on Sunday. Shaylee Gonzalez scored 15 points and Shay Holle added 12. Madison Booker (six points), the Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year, was not a factor.
Yvonne Ejim led Gonzaga (32-4) with 14 points, but the senior — who came in with a 19.9-point scoring average — shot 4-for-10 from the field and fouled out late in the game. The Bulldogs shot only 26.5 percent from the field (13-for-49) and were 4-for-22 (18.2 percent) from 3-point territory.
No. 3 North Carolina State 77, No. 2 Stanford 67
Aziaha James scored 29 points and the Wolfpack stormed back from a 10-point deficit early in the second half to overwhelm the Cardinal in the Portland 4 Region semifinal.
NC State (30-6) outscored Stanford (30-6) 50-30 in the second half to advance to the Elite Eight, where it will face Texas on Sunday. James scored 25 of her points in the second half and finished 8-for-14 from the field, 3-for-5 from 3-point range and 10-for-11 from the foul line.
Stanford’s Kiki Iriafen scored 18 of her 26 points in the second half and finished with 10 rebounds. Senior All-American Cameron Brink finished her college career with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven blocked shots. She played only 24 minutes before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.
–Field Level Media