The South Carolina women’s basketball team earned its first trip to the Final Four by rallying to beat Florida State 80-74 on Sunday in the NCAA Greensboro Regional in Greensboro, North Carolina.
South Carolina advances to next Sunday’s national semifinal game in Tampa, Florida, against the winner of Sunday’s late game between No. 1-seeded Notre Dame and second-seeded Baylor.
Guard Tiffany Mitchell, the Southeastern Conference player of the year, scored seven of her 21 points in the final two minutes for the top-seeded Gamecocks (34-2), who trailed by as many as 10 points late in the first half.
Guard Asia Dozier hit four free throws in the final 20 seconds to preserve the victory for South Carolina.
Center Alaina Coates finished with 14 points, and guard A’ja Wilson added 10 for the Gamecocks.
Guard Leticia Romero led second-seeded Florida State (32-5) with 13 points and guard Brittany Brown added 12.
Florida State shot 61.2 percent from the field, but played from behind for much of the game.
The Seminoles led 31-21 with less than five minutes left in the first half, and still held a seven-point advantage with 15:49 left in the game.
South Carolina took its first lead with 10:10 left in the second half. The game featured five ties and seven lead changes from that point on.
The Gamecocks took the lead for good when Mitchell scored on a drive that gave them a 69-67 lead with 2:01 left.
Brown then missed a shot for Florida State before Mitchell hit a 3-point shot from the corner to put the Gamecocks ahead by five with 1:15 remaining.
Mitchell later restored the five-point lead with two free throws with 27.9 seconds left.
The Seminoles’ Adut Bulgak made a 3-point shot to reduce the margin to two points with 21 seconds left, but Dozier hit two free throws with 18 seconds left and two more with seven seconds remaining to clinch the win.
UConn 105, Texas 54
Top-ranked Connecticut advanced to another Elite Eight in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament and moved closer to a third straight national championship with a 105-54 rout of fifth-seeded Texas on Saturday in a regional semifinal in Albany, N.Y.
The 51-point blowout represented the largest margin of victory at this stage of the tournament and beyond in history.
UConn coach Geno Auriemma became the second women’s or men’s coach to reach 100 NCAA Tournament wins, joining former Tennessee coach Pat Summitt, who posted 112 during her career.
Forward Breanna Stewart led the Huskies (35-1) with 31 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists before leaving the game with more than nine minutes remaining. Guard Moriah Jefferson scored 25 points, making 10 of 12 shots from the field.
UConn shot 56 percent from the field and at one point went on a 44-9 run, leading 52-24 at halftime and then starting the second half with 18 points in the first 3:30.
The Huskies advanced to a regional final for the 10th straight year and have a record streak of seven consecutive Final Fours. They’ll face Dayton next.
Texas (24-11), playing in the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2004, was led by guard Ariel Atkins with 11 points.
Dayton 82, Louisville 66
Dayton upset third-seeded Louisville in a regional semifinal in Albany, N.Y., becoming just the fourth No. 7 seed to reach the Elite Eight since the NCAA women’s tournament field expanded to 64 teams in 1994.
Guard Andrea Hoover was 15 of 15 from the free throw line and scored 26 points to lead the Flyers, who have won 11 of their past 12 games. Guard Amber Deane had 15 points and center Jodie Cornelie-Sigmundova added 12 points and 11 rebounds for Dayton.
Forward Myisha Hines-Allen paced Louisville (27-7) with 14 points, all in the second half. The Cardinals trailed by one point at halftime before the Flyers, who upset No. 2 seed Kentucky in the second round, pulled away.
Maryland 65, Duke 55
Top-seeded Maryland advanced past fourth-seeded Duke into a regional final in Spokane, Wash., behind 24 points from guard Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and 15 from guard Laurin Mincy.
The Terrapins (33-2) moved into the Elite Eight for the sixth time under coach Brenda Frese. Walker-Kimbrough had 18 points in the second half and Mincy scored all of her 15 points in the first half.
Elizabeth Williams had 18 points and nine rebounds for Duke (23-11), coached by former University of Maine coach Joanne Palombo McCallie.
Tennessee 73, Gonzaga 69 (OT)
Second-seeded Tennessee overcame a 17-point deficit against No. 11 Gonzaga and advanced to the regional final in Spokane, Washington, as forward Cierra Burdick scored 22 points.
Burdick also collected 15 rebounds and guard Ariel Massengale added 16 points for Tennessee (30-5), which trailed 57-40 with 6:34 remaining in regulation.
The Volunteers also were down by 13 with five minutes remaining but scored 15 straight points and forced overtime on a free throw by guard Barbara Reynolds.
Forward Sunny Greinacher scored 24 points and guard Keani Albanez added 20 for Gonzaga (26-8), which played the game a mile from campus.
Tennessee will face top-seeded Maryland in Monday’s regional final.