South Carolina women's basketball: Magic City Comeback - The Gamecocks down the Blue Devils to advance to the Final Four

South Carolina overcame a four-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Duke 54-50 and advance to its fifth straight Final Four.

Duke was able to slow the game to its pace, and both teams went through long offensive dry spells. South Carolina shot just 43.2% from the floor, while Duke hit 31.7%. Both teams struggled with turnovers (19 for Duke, 16 for South Carolina), and the Gamecocks never got their transition game going, netting just nine fast break points.

South Carolina jumped out to an early 10-2 lead and led by as much as 11 in the second quarter. But Duke held South Carolina without a field goal for nearly eight minutes in the second and third quarters to erase the deficit and take the lead.

“I thought they were very effective,” Dawn Staley said. “I thought they forced us into taking some bad shots that almost ended our season. Really. Especially in the first half. And then the second half I thought we tried to get the ball where it needed to go. Sometimes they disrupted that. But at the end of the day, I thought when we had to make plays off of broken sets, we did it in the fourth quarter, and I think that was the difference between them coming back and building the lead and us bearing down and making sure we win those broken play battles.”

Behind its seniors, South Carolina scored the first eight points of the fourth quarter to retake the lead. The 10-0 run began when Te-Hina Paopao hit two free throws late in the third quarter and turned a 42-36 deficit into a four-point lead.

Sania Feagin made a turnaround jumper, and then Raven Johnson hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 42. Paopao drove for the go-ahead layup, and then Chloe Kitts, the only Gamecock on the floor who was not a senior, added a tough layup. 

Duke answered with a jumper, and then Feagin drew contact on a layup, but didn’t get the call. 

Toby Fournier, who led all players with 18 points, drove and scored through contact to tie the game at 46. She had a free throw to give the Blue Devils the lead but missed. 

With the shot clock running down, Feagin drove for the go-ahead layup. Feagin finished with 12 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and two blocks.

Kitts drove for a layup to put the Gamecocks back up four and then forced a turnover, but South Carolina couldn’t convert.

Oluchi Okananwa, the ACC tournament MVP, scored to make it 52-50. Feagin missed a layup, but Duke knocked the rebound out of bounds with 29.8 seconds left.

Hall was called for an offensive foul on the inbounds for running over Ashlon Jackson. Duke called a timeout to set up a play, but South Carolina’s defense was locked in. Jackson launched a three for the lead, but it was an airball.

“Went with the ball in Ashlon’s hands” Kara Lawson said. “She had been making plays for us in the fourth quarter out of the ball screen. She tried to make a play and just missed it.”

“When I got that charge, Coach Mary (Worely) came up to me and said it’s okay, it’s all right, you have to get a defensive stop and I was like okay, let me turn the page as quick as possible because I was ready to have a meltdown,” Hall said. “But I turned the page and I was ready to catch the rebound.”

Hall grabbed the rebound, and after a timeout, Staley drew up a play to get the ball to Kitts so Duke would have to foul the 81.3% shooter who had been clutch from the line on Friday.

“I walked out there and I was like, Pao, can you get the ball?” Kitts said. “Pao was like, girl what? Go get the ball. So I got the ball and I went to the line and I was just taking a deep breath, and I told myself that my coach wanted me to have the ball at the end of the game because she knew I could make my free throws, and I told myself that I’m really good at basketball and I made both of them.”

Paopao had missed a pair of free throws earlier in the fourth quarter, and had more confidence in Kitts. 

“I mean, shoot, I missed my two free throws,” she said. “She’s been making her free throws. I was like, why don’t you get it. You’ve been through this before, you’ve experienced it before. Just calm down.”

Kitts sank both free throws for the 54-50 lead. After a Duke timeout, Hall then deflected Duke’s inbounds pass, and Feagin grabbed the loose ball to secure the win.

“I stayed disciplined, I followed the game plan,” Feagin said. “I just tried to stay disciplined with it. We’re used to being up but we wasn’t up that much and when Chloe did make her free throws, I was just like, don’t get too high with the highs and too low with the lows. Realize there’s 5 seconds left, a lot of time on the clock and stay ready for anything.”

Kitts, who added a Regional MVP trophy to her SEC Tournament MVP trophy, finished with 14 points and four rebounds. She went 7-10 from the line and was 4-4 in the fourth quarter.

MiLaysia Fulwiley, South Carolina’s star on Friday, never found her rhythm on Sunday. She had just five points and was hit with several traveling violations that led to four turnovers. 

Duke outrebounded South Carolina 41-30. The Gamecocks seemingly forgot how to rebound in the third quarter when Duke grabbed 12 of the 14 rebounds. South Carolina crashed the boards in the fourth and had a 12-8 edge in the frame.

Notes:
South Carolina wore its “Cocky” alternate uniforms. … South Carolina’s five straight Final Fours is tied for the second-longest streak in NCAA history. … Several members of the Highlighters, South Carolina practice team, sat behind the scorers table wearing their bright yellow t-shirts. … Maddy McDaniel and Maryam Dauda got in the game at the end of the third and second quarters, respectively, and barely. McDaniel played 14 seconds, and Dauda played 38. … South Carolina hit 13-20 from the free throw line. … The All-Regional team was Ashlon Jackson, Toby Fournier, MiLaysia Fulwiley, Sania Feagin, and MVP Chloe Kitts. … My ballot was MiLaysia Fulwiley, Chloe Kitts, Ashlon Jackson, Toby Fournier, and Sania Feagin. … Dawn Staley’s outfit: Staley wore a white Chanel hoodie and garnet Chanel pants. … Announced attendance was 11,252. … South Carolina’s next game is on Friday at the Final Four in Tampa.

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