How did South Carolina get to Final Four? Here are five key points to season
South Carolina remained the nation’s No. 1-ranked team from start to finish in the 2021-22 season, earning the top overall seed in the 2022 NCAA women’s basketball tournament.
The Gamecocks (33-2) advanced to the program’s second-straight Final Four with NCAA tournament wins against 16-seed Howard, No. 8 Miami, No. 5 North Carolina and No. 10 Creighton to become the Greensboro Regional champions.
Head coach Dawn Staley put together the country’s toughest schedule according to RealTimeRPI, as USC tallied an 11-0 record against opponents in the Top 25 and won the SEC regular-season title.
Among a roster that includes 11 McDonald’s All-Americans and two No. 1 recruiting classes (2019, 2021), junior forward Aliyah Boston solidified her status as a Gamecocks’ star. USC’s leading scorer and rebounder strung together an SEC-record 27-game double-double streak and is considered a front-runner for national Player of the Year honors.
With a Final Four trip to Minneapolis on the agenda, here are five key points from South Carolina’s season.
Nov. 22: USC beats UConn in the Bahamas
South Carolina already had two top-10 wins under its belt (No. 5 N.C. State and No. 9 Oregon) when it met then-No. 2 UConn in Paradise Island, Bahamas for the Bad Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis Championship in November. USC won 73-57 to clinch the Thanksgiving week tournament championship.
The Gamecocks trailed by 13 points in the second quarter but improved defensively by the second half. South Carolina outscored the Huskies 16-3 in the fourth quarter, which tied UConn’s worst point differential in a final period since women’s basketball moved to quarters in the 2015-16 season, according to ESPN Stats and Info.
“Our players are determined, they are resilient,” Staley said. “We knew exactly what we had to do, especially on the defensive side of the ball. We had to disrupt.”
The Gamecocks were originally slated to play UConn twice in the 2021-22 regular season, but the Jan. 27 game was replaced by an SEC matchup with Ole Miss to make up the previously postponed conference game.
Dec. 21: Gamecocks cap perfect non-conference record with victory over Stanford
South Carolina completed with its largest comeback in program history, as the Gamecocks rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat then-No. 2 Stanford 65-61 in Colonial Life Arena last December.
USC earned a second win over a No. 2 team behind Boston’s 18-point outing, earning a touch of redemption for a heartbreaking Final Four loss to the Cardinal in the 2021 NCAA Final Four.
The Stanford win was South Carolina’s sixth over a team ranked in the AP Top 25 and capped off its non-conference slate with a perfect 12-0 record.
Dec. 30: South Carolina falls to Missouri, rebounds to 17-game SEC win streak
Just over a week after the Stanford win, South Carolina dropped its SEC opener to Missouri in a 70-69 overtime game behind a fourth-straight game shooting below 40%.
“We’ve got to shoot the ball better,” Staley said. “We’ve got to play with better pace. We’ve got to do a better job at getting our post players the ball, especially when they are as efficient as they are. Gotta hit shots, gotta take good shots.”
Staley’s Gamecocks moved forward after the loss and on to a 17-game win streak in SEC play. South Carolina’s SEC stretch included five wins over ranked opponents, the conference regular-season title and a No. 1 seed in the league’s tournament.
March 13: Gamecocks named NCAA tournament’s top overall seed
South Carolina was dealt its second loss of the year in the SEC tournament championship game. Seventh-seeded Kentucky rallied to a 64-62 win after outscoring USC 21-7 in the fourth quarter, leaving a bitter taste in the Gamecocks’ mouth before the NCAA tournament.
USC had a week-long break between the conference tournament and NCAA selection show, processing the loss and reorienting toward its ultimate goal — winning the national championship.
The Gamecocks still earned the NCAA tournament’s No. 1 overall seed despite the SEC tourney loss.
“We talk about winning the national championship,” Staley said. “Our players know what the stakes are. They’ve just got to go out and do it.”
March 27: Elite Eight win sends South Carolina to second-straight Final Four
South Carolina defeated 10th-seeded Creighton to solidify its trip to the Final Four and the Greensboro Regional championship crown.
The Gamecocks had struggled offensively through their first three games of the tournament but put together an efficient 50.9% field goal percentage against the Bluejays in a 80-50 win.
“We’re going to enjoy (the Final Four),” Staley said. “You got some young players who have no clue what it means to go to a Final Four, so we’ll probably have to hold them back a little bit because they just don’t know the whole excitement of it. And then you have some older players who have been here before. They have one thing on their mind, and that is to win a national championship.”
“We do it game by game. It was pressure-packed the entire season, and it’s a relief to know that we’re back and now we can settle in and try to get this thing done.”
This story was originally published March 30, 2022 at 7:10 AM with the headline "How did South Carolina get to Final Four? Here are five key points to season."
