South Carolina women's basketball survives defensive struggle to advance to Sweet 16

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South Carolina women’s basketball survived a defensive struggle for the ages to beat Miami 49-33 and advance to the Sweet 16.

Kamilla Cardoso scored a team-high 11 points and had a pair of crucial three-point plays in the fourth quarter, and Aliyah Boston had 10 points and 16 rebounds to tie for the national lead in double-doubles.

Both teams shot below 30% from the field and the Gamecocks were 9-16 on free throws and 6-20 on layups. The Hurricanes shot just 11-46, hit 5-19 from three, and at one point went 14 minutes between field goals. With the score so low, every basket took on oversized meaning and shooters began to press.

“I thought our players saw opportunities to score and it was open and they couldn’t believe how open it was and you tend to change your shot for one reason or another,” said Dawn Staley.

South Carolina women’s basketball Analysis: Miami

While South Carolina was missing shots, the Gamecocks were smothering Miami. The Hurricanes had seven points after the first quarter, 10 at halftime (the fourth-lowest scoring half in tournament history), and 15 after three quarters. 

“Our goal is always to disrupt and our defense did a great job of that,” Boston said. “We were very dialed in and we made sure we were focused on the scout.”

“There’s a nastiness to us on that side of the basketball,” said Staley. “We see it. It wins basketball games for us. We have to pack it because we don’t know if we’re going to shoot another 30%.”

The fourth became a shootout as both teams scored 18 points. Miami twice cut South Carolina’s lead to ten early in the fourth quarter. The first time, Boston answered with a basket, but Miami scored again. This time, Cardoso scored back-to-back three-point plays on putbacks to put the Gamecocks up 16 and effectively put the game out of reach.

Cardoso added eight rebounds and four blocks to her 11 points, and the two-player game between Cardoso and Boston was the closest thing South Carolina had to an effective offense. Cardoso also displayed emotion, something she rarely does.

“She just naturally is like a giggly person,” Bre Beal said. “In practice she can turn the ball over and just laugh and say ‘sorry!’”

“I think this is one of the games in which she wanted to play (because) it’s an ACC opponent,” Staley said. “I don’t care if (she’s) smiling or growling, I just want them to help us win basketball games. That’s her personality, I don’t really want to change that.”

Miami’s Maeva Djaldi-Tabdi, who led the Hurricanes with 15 points, was Cardoso’s teammate at Syracuse.

Cardoso made up for Boston’s unusual struggles. She grabbed 16 rebounds, had four assists, and played her usual outstanding defense, but Boston missed a couple of early shots and then went empty on a pair of trips to the foul line. The misses seemed to weigh on her as she became visibly frustrated in the second half.

“I need to continue to be patient with myself,” Boston said. “I got a little frustrated tonight but it’s all right. I still tried to do what I could on defense and make sure I rebounded the ball and put my energy into something else. I still got it (the double-double), so thank god.”

Boston had eight points when Miami intentionally fouled her with 1:19 left. She was 0-4 from the line at that point, and the crowd began to rumble as fans realized Boston needed the two free throws to extend her double-double streak. The crowd roared as she calmly sank both free throws and then gave her a standing ovation as she subbed out of the game. Boston said she didn’t feel the pressure at the line.

“It wasn’t really, knock these down and get a double-double, it was, can you make a free throw?” Boston said.

Boston now has 26 consecutive double-doubles and 27 for the season. She is tied with DePaul’s Aneesah Morrow for the most in the country, but Morrow’s season is over. 

South Carolina women’s basketball notes:

SEC commissioner Greg Sankey attended the game. He also attended the first-round win over Howard. … Saniya Rivers sat out her second consecutive game due to a coach’s decision. …  Olivia Thompson got some rare first-half playing time when she checked in with 28.5 seconds left for what was supposed to be the final possession. Thompson was the designated shooter with Zia Cooke on the bench with two fouls. … South Carolina has reached the Sweet 16 in eight consecutive tournaments, since 2013. … South Carolina women’s basketball was officially credited with only seven blocks, but it seemed like there were many more. … Announced attendance was 9,817. … South Carolina will play the winner of Arizona-North Carolina on Friday in Greensboro. That game will be played Monday at 10:00 pm eastern.