FOUR-TOLD: Gamecocks chop FSU, advance to Final Four

It was thought possible, then expected, then promised.

On Sunday, it was delivered.

South Carolina claimed what it knew it could obtain, beating Florida State 80-74 and advancing to the Final Four. Dawn Staley knew she had put together a powerful team, and talked about the final weekend as early as a year ago. She figured her Gamecocks would be in position to do this.

So why the jubilation? The unbridled joy? Shouldn’t this have been a business-as-usual approach, with a prize still on the table?

No way. As much as Staley knew that this team could be the one to get here, she still remembers the work it took to build it. Seven years of constructing a house tacked the last shingle on Sunday.

Now for some extras.

“I’ll tell you this – we’re not going to just show up and be happy to be there,” Staley said. “Now it’s time to maybe check off some things that we wanted to do, which is win a national championship.”

USC is in position to do so, checking into the Final Four with a 34-2 record and the deepest team in the country. The Gamecocks were set to find out their opponent (Notre Dame or Baylor) on Sunday and the rest of the field on Monday, but the particulars could wait for a few minutes.

Sunday was a time for celebration. Seniors who had won a lot of games but seen their tournaments ends too early over the past three seasons refused to let go of their regional championship trophy. Sophomore Alaina Coates, the regional MVP, stuck to her usual routine and walked hand-in-hand with Staley off the court. All-tournament team selection and two-time SEC Player of the Year Tiffany Mitchell reflected on another game where she took over late and led USC to the thus-far biggest win in its history.

“I think that plays to our advantage, being the new kids on the block in the Final Four,” she mused. “That puts more pressure on them.”

Power brokers Connecticut, Notre Dame, Tennessee – all have a shot to join USC in Tampa next week. But they will join the Gamecocks, not play while the Gamecocks are watching from home.

Staley proclaimed in April that the Final Four was the goal. Her players freely talked about it all season. They knew after they won the SEC tournament that they would have, at most, a three-loss season, yet they still knew it would be considered a disappointment if they weren’t one of the four teams left standing.

Mission accomplished. But while they’re there …

“I think last year, we didn’t have enough to get us over that Sweet 16 hump,” Mitchell said. “And this year, we are so much deeper.”

USC needed all of it on Sunday.

Florida State lived up to its reputation, owning the boards and limiting the Gamecocks’ second chances. The Seminoles’ relentless pressure and their ability to drive through the heart of USC’s defense had whistles drowning cheers.

Staley gambled, inserting freshman guard Bianca Cuevas with the Gamecocks trailing nine with eight minutes to play in the first half. Cuevas, whose speed is her greatest blessing and curse, was as good as USC ever needed her to be.

She drove past the Seminoles’ defense, never letting them man up the other Gamecocks and lock the interior. A re-energized USC rallied behind her nine first-half points, closing the half by making 10 of its last 12 shots.

“When I got into the game, coach told me, ‘Just do you. Go,” Cuevas said. “She knows nobody can keep up with my speed.”

Back in the game, the Gamecocks came out for the second half as aggressive as they ended the first. FSU (32-5) stretched the lead to seven, USC chipped away. The deficit hit one point 10 times but the Gamecocks couldn’t get past it; missed free throws, more whistles and the Seminoles’ drives to the basket kept them down.

But as they did in Friday’s Sweet 16 win over North Carolina, the Gamecocks knew they had their biggest gun ready to fire. Mitchell, USC’s “Superwoman” who had eight first-half points, took over.

“I just think me and coach Staley have a non-verbal communication,” Mitchell said. “I just look at her and she looks at me and I’m just like, ‘All right, it’s time.’”

USC ran the same play on three straight possessions – get the ball to Mitchell and let her do something. Her three-point play gave the Gamecocks a 63-60 lead, but the Seminoles scored the next five points. The game see-sawed for the next two minutes until Mitchell laid the ball in for a 69-67 lead, then found herself in the corner with a pass from Khadijah Sessions.

The 3-pointer splashed, USC led by five but the Seminoles weren’t done. Maegan Conwright converted two free throws, Mitchell equaled them. Adut Bulgak swished a 3-pointer to make it 74-72 with 20 seconds to play, and USC again went to its bench.

Asia Dozier hadn’t scored, not unusual for a junior who starts but never wrecks the stat sheet. Mitchell was supposed to get the ball, but FSU double-teamed her.

“I haven’t shot a whole lot of free throws this season,” Dozier said. “We knew they were going to pay a whole lot of attention to Tiffany. They left me wide-open.”

Dozier was fouled on back-to-back possessions, Leticia Romero’s layup sandwiched between them. She made all four of her free throws, fighting nerves the entire time but buoyed by her teammates telling her that she was the greatest shooter they had ever seen.

With a four-point lead and seven seconds to go, the countdown began. Sessions, not wanting to foul but wanting to deny an open look, guarded Conwright as she tried to find a 3-pointer.

Sessions punched the ball loose, recovered and ran downcourt. She only scored four points but the last two, kissed off the glass and through as the buzzer sounded, gave USC the prize it set out to, and knew it could, win.

Sessions walked to the corner of the court and stared as the adoring USC throng showered her with applause. Aleighsa Welch and Elem Ibiam, seniors who had been recruited with the promise of competing for national titles, embraced. Cuevas pumped her fist at midcourt as Kaydra Duckett leaped onto Coates’ back.

They expected to get there. They are there.

“The goal is always in mind -- whether or not we have the pieces in place to accomplish those goals are a different story,” Staley said. “It’s just we’ve got some pieces that will allow us to compete at this level and go into the Final Four and have a legitimate shot at winning.”

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FLORIDA STATE (32-5)

Slaughter 1-4 6-8 8, Bulgak 4-8 1-2 11, Romero 5-14 3-5 13, Brown 5-11 0-0 12, Conwright 2-5 2-2 7, Jones 1-4 2-2 5, Bingley 3-6 0-0 8, Thomas 3-5 2-2 8, Richardson 1-2 0-0 2, James 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 16-21 74.

SOUTH CAROLINA (34-2)

Welch 3-7 1-2 7, Ibiam 2-3 0-0 4, Sessions 1-2 2-4 4, Mitchell 8-14 4-5 21, Dozier 0-1 4-4 4, Cuevas 4-6 1-2 9, Gaines 2-2 0-0 4, Wilson 3-6 4-5 10, Roy 1-2 0-0 3, Coates 6-6 2-5 14. Totals 30-49 18-27 80.

Halftime_Florida Sate. 41-38. 3-Point Goals_Florida State 8-16 (Bingley 2-2, Brown 2-4, Bulgak 2-5, Conwright 1-1, Jones 1-2, Romero 0-2), South Carolina 2-5 (Roy 1-1, Mitchell 1-2, Dozier 0-1, Cuevas 0-1). Fouled Out_Bingley, Brown. Rebounds_Florida State 33 (Romero, Slaughter 7), South Carolina 28 (Mitchell 6). Assists_Florida State 13 (Romero, Slaughter 4), South Carolina 14 (Mitchell 5). Total Fouls_Florida State 26, South Carolina 18. Attendance_6,364

This story was originally published March 29, 2015 at 2:31 PM with the headline "FOUR-TOLD: Gamecocks chop FSU, advance to Final Four."