Women’s basketball: Top-seeded South Carolina moves on after topping USF
Aliyah Boston showed once more she's far from a one-dimensional superstar.
While the South Carolina All-American collected her 81st career double double with 11 points and 11 rebounds in a 76-45 victory over South Florida to advance to the Sweet 16 on Sunday, she also used her uncomparable defense to energize her team and lift them out of a slow start to keep their drive for back-to-back national titles going strong.
“She made a lot of plays that don't show up on the stat sheet,” South Florida coach Jose Fernandez said.
Like when next month's No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA draft twice dove on the floor to corral a loose basketball, then after blowing up Maria Alvarez's drive to the basket ran out to the sideline to double team Emma Johansson and force a turnover.
“This is who she is,” said South Carolina coach Dawn Staley, who's watched and admired the effort the past four seasons.
Zia Cooke scored 21 points for the Gamecocks, who improved to 34-0, won their 40th straight game and moved four victories away from repeating as national champs. They'll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.
“Just because I know my teammates are giving me their all, I want to do the same,” Boston said. “I've always had that energy on defense when I was younger and I've just kept it going now that I'm in college.”
South Florida (27-7) had hoped for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn't hang with the Gamecocks.
Iowa 74, Georgia 66
Caitlin Clark had 22 points and 12 assists while Monika Czinano added 20 points to help Iowa beat Georgia 74-66 in Iowa City.
The Hawkeyes (28-6), the No. 2 seed in Seattle Regional 4, advance to the ninth Sweet Sixteen in program history.
Gabbie Marshall added 15 points and McKenna Warnock had 14 for Iowa, which erased the memory of last season's second-round home loss to No. 10 seed Creighton.
Clark, a first-team Associated Press All-American, was held scoreless for 13 minutes in the first half, but scored 14 second-half points as the Hawkeyes finally shook off the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs (22-12). She made just 6 of 17 shots, but either scored or assisted on nearly every point by the Hawkeyes in the second half.
Georgia, a No. 10 seed, got within 68-66 on a 3-pointer from Audrey Warren with 2:17 left in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs would not score again, committing three straight turnovers and missing a layup.
No. 1 Virginia Tech 72, No. 9 South Dakota State 60
Georgia Amoore scored 21 points and top seed Virginia Tech held off No. 9 seed South Dakota State 72-60 on Sunday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament’s Seattle 3 Region.
Elizabeth Kitley added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies (29-4), who won their 13th consecutive game, to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. They will play the winner of Monday’s matchup between No. 12 seed Toledo and No. 4 seed Tennessee.
Virginia Tech also set a school record with its 29th win, breaking the mark of 28 set by the 1998-99 squad — the only other team in school history to advance to the Sweet 16.
Myah Selland led South Dakota State (29-6) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
The Jackrabbits entered the game with a 22-game winning streak, but aided by a raucous home crowd, the Hokies — who set a school record with their 16th home victory this season — jumped on the Jackrabbits early and never trailed.
Virginia Tech held South Dakota State scoreless for the final 7:03 of the first quarter in taking a 19-7 lead, and then used a 10-0 run early in the second quarter to grab a 20-point advantage.
South Dakota State made things interesting late in the fourth quarter, cutting the Virginia Tech lead to 66-56 on a three-point play by Selland with 3:13 remaining. But Amoore hit two of her seven 3-pointers in the final two minutes to seal the game.
No. 2 Maryland 77, No. 7 Arizona 64
Diamond Miller scored 13 of her 24 points in the third quarter to help Maryland over Arizona.
The Terrapins (27-6) advance to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and the 11th time under coach Brenda Frese. Maryland trailed by a point after two quarters but ran past the Wildcats (22-10) in the second half.
Shyanne Sellers scored 15 points and Faith Masonius gave the Terps a lift with 12.
Frese was coaching against her alma mater. She played at Arizona and graduated in 1993.
The Wildcats gave Maryland a tough battle for 20 minutes but couldn't keep up offensively. Arizona was up 33-32 at the break but went almost half the third quarter without scoring. After being held to four points in the first half, Miller had five on one trip down the court — a layup while being fouled, followed by a 3-pointer after Arizona was unable to rebound her missed free throw. That put Maryland ahead 39-33.