BIRMINGHAM — The South Carolina Gamecocks are headed to yet another Final Four, and when they get there, you can be sure of two things. One is that they will have problems to fix. The other is that they will immediately try to fix them. This is a dominant program but not a dominant team, and once you accept that, you can appreciate what they just accomplished.
We cannot say South Carolina’s Elite Eight win over the Duke Blue Devils was harder than it looked, because it looked pretty damn hard. But it was harder than the typical South Carolina pre–Final Four tournament game. South Carolina trailed Duke by four points after three quarters Sunday and won, 54–50. The Gamecocks traveled and charged and missed some shots they should have made, but they still beat the No. 2 seed Blue Devils, just as they had some ugly moments and still beat the Maryland Terrapins in the Sweet 16, and got caught in a mudfight and still beat the Indiana Hoosiers in the second round.
Dawn Staley said after that Maryland game that her team did not look like a national champion. How did she feel after beating Duke?
“You went for that?” she cracked, implying she didn’t really mean it Friday. “Look, I mean, at this point, it’s not going to look pretty. It’s not … but you certainly have to get down and play the kind of game that’s presented in front of you. And we’ll do that.
“You know, if we’re not scoring a whole lot of points, then we’ve got to up our defense. If we’re scoring a whole lot of points, we’ve got to up our defense. So it is that type of year. For us, there’s not any blowouts. We’ve got to grind for every single win that we can get and manufacture.”
They sure had to grind for this one. The teams combined for almost as many turnovers (35) as made baskets (38). Kara Lawson’s Blue Devils are not always aesthetically pleasing, but they play smart, relentless basketball, especially on the defensive end. South Carolina has more talent, but when a game comes down to the final minute, the difference is not really talent. It’s who finds a way to make one or two more plays. The Gamecocks did it.
Guard Te-Hina Paopao played one of the grittiest games under pressure that you’ll see all tournament. Chloe Kitts and Sania Feagin smoothly played off each other when South Carolina needed a bucket, which is not easy for two interior players to do.
The game was ugly to the end: With 29.8 seconds left, the Gamecocks tried to inbound the ball with a 52–50 lead. They did not succeed. Bree Hall ran into Ashlon Jackson along the baseline and was called for a charge. Duke would have a chance to tie the game with a two or take a late lead with a three.
Lawson called timeout, and with a Final Four bid on the line, she made two bold choices.
Lawson’s first choice: taking Toby Fournier—her leading scorer for the season and in this game—off the floor. When she was asked about this after the game, Lawson said it was “just a coach’s decision.”
Her second choice: calling for Delaney Thomas to set a ball screen for Jackson. Lawson said later that Jackson is “our best guard at making plays,” and “she’d been making plays for us in that fourth quarter out of the ball screen.”
Thomas set the screen. South Carolina guard Raven Johnson switched onto Thomas, who rolled toward the rim. That left South Carolina 6' 3" forward Feagin on Jackson. But rather than try to take Feagin off the dribble, Jackson launched a three. It was an air ball. From the bench, Fournier watched it land in the hands of South Carolina’s Hall.
Kitts had two free throws to seal the win for South Carolina, which she said was “scary.” On the court, Hall told her, “You’re unshakeable! You’ve got this.” How did Kitts steady herself?
“I told myself I’m really good at basketball,” Kitts said.
She is. She also has an interesting free throw motion—she looks like she is rushing, but she made 81% of them this season. She made both this time. South Carolina led by four with five seconds left. The game was over in the minds of almost everybody in the building, but not to Feagin, who kept telling her teammates, “It’s not over! It’s not over!” Moments like that are what Staley loves about this team.
“I don’t think I’ve had a team that’s been able to communicate as early,” Staley said. “They don’t wait until a week later. They’re unafraid to be vulnerable and discuss shortcomings.”
South Carolina will probably have to play smoother basketball to win its fourth national title under Staley. But Staley also pointed out that every team has rough stretches: “You know, maybe the score at the end of a UConn game is not indicative of how it looked in the first two quarters.” The UConn Huskies trailed the Oklahoma Sooners by four at halftime Saturday.
Of course, the Huskies won that game by 23. South Carolina won its last three games by a total of 19. As Staley said, it’s one of those years. But her team is headed to a fifth straight Final Four, so it’s one of those years, too.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as This Is Not South Carolina’s Typical Final Four Team—But It’s Still Pretty Impressive.