Hearts broken: South Carolina falls to Stanford in Final Four to finish season
It was right there. Twice.
Even after a fourth quarter that featured several controversial no-calls, even after all the mistakes, even with the foul trouble to the star player, the South Carolina women’s basketball team had the ball in the final seconds of Friday’s Final Four contest against Stanford, and the chance was there.
Having ripped away the inbounds pass from the Cardinal, sophomore guard Brea Beal drove straight down the court and put up a contested shot. It deflected off the rim.
“I definitely thought Brea had a good look,” sophomore guard Zia Cooke said. “We got a good steal. It was in our hands.”
Sophomore forward Aliyah Boston, an All-American, was right there for the putback, though. She nabbed the board, and with 0.1 seconds left on the clock, put up the shot. It hit the back iron and bounced off.
Just like that, the Gamecocks’ season was over with a 66-65 loss.
It was a heartbreaking finish to a thrilling contest in which USC rallied from a six-point halftime deficit to tie the game, then take the lead with 39 seconds to go off a 3-pointer from junior guard Destanni Henderson.
And in the end, the Gamecocks were left to rue what could have been.
“I just told our players, the margin of error is that small,” coach Dawn Staley said. “It’s that small to competing for a national championship, winning a national championship. It won’t be our last time being in this situation. Next year we just got to practice with that margin of error in mind.”
“We’re a hard-working team. Everyone wants to win. We had it in our eyes. We wanted it,” Cooke said. “We just came up short.”
In a physical contest, Staley and fans were often left clamoring for fouls, only for no whistle to come. Toward the end of the contest with USC down 62-59, Cooke appeared to turn the ball over when she fell to the floor, leading to a Stanford bucket in transition. But replay showed the ball striking the foot of the defender — but no stoppage in play was called.
“It hit her foot. They didn’t call the jump ball. That was it,” Cooke said of what she saw on the play.
A few moments later, there was another incident in which Beal, going for a layup, was shoved under the basket. No call was made and she missed the shot.
“Officiating, they got a tough job,” Staley said. “They got a tough job because there are dreams on the line. Everyone wants to compete for a national championship. I saw the kick ball. I didn’t make a big deal out of it. I don’t know what you want me to say. I can’t say a lot about it other than they got a tough job.”
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But South Carolina hurt itself at times too, giving up 24 second-chance points. The two most impactful came with less than 35 seconds to go and South Carolina up one after Henderson’s 3-pointer. Stanford junior guard Lexie Hull missed a jump shot, but before the Gamecocks could secure the rebound, sophomore guard Haley Jones swooped in, grabbed the ball, then turned around and hit a jumper that proved to be the game-winner.
“The difference in the basketball game when you look at the stats was their second-chance points, and a big one hurt us at the end of the game,” Staley said.
The crushing disappointment of the final moments, which left South Carolina players collapsed on the floor of the Alamodome in tears, overshadowed what had been a stirring comeback for USC. Four years ago, the Gamecocks had rallied from a nine-point deficit to Stanford in the Final Four to advance to the title game, and it appeared that history was repeating itself Friday.
Down six at the half, Carolina came out of the break on fire, shooting 71.4% in the third quarter. Cooke in particular was magnificent, drilling three 3-pointers and scoring 11 points to help fuel a furious rally. She finished the contest with a team-high 25 points.
“Zia is built for the biggest stage, the biggest stage. She was up to play. Shots were falling for her. I mean, she got great looks,” Staley said. “She created great looks. She’s probably a little down on the turnover late in the fourth quarter. ... But she put us in a position to win a basketball game with some of the things that she did for us on both sides of the basketball.”
Into the fourth quarter, it was Henderson who emerged to complement her backcourt running mate, tallying nine points including that crucial last-minute 3. On the game, South Carolina actually out-shot Stanford from 3-point territory despite the Cardinal setting the NCAA record for most 3s in a tournament.
And while Henderson and Cooke dueled with Jones on the court, Staley and Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer engaged in their own chess match. USC opened the contest on a 15-6 run, flummoxing the Cardinal with their defensive pressure, but after the media timeout, VanDerveer and Stanford adjusted and ripped off a 11-0 run of their own to seize the lead and set up the dramatic second half.
With the loss, the Gamecocks now face a long offseason before they can work on getting redemption. But they also return every starter from this year’s squad and add a 2021 recruiting class ranked No. 1 in the nation.
“I am proud. I am honored to coach our basketball team,” Staley said. “And I look forward to getting back to the biggest stage of women’s college basketball.”
South Carolina vs Stanford NCAA box score
SOUTH CAROLINA (26-5)—Boston 5-14 0-0 11, Saxton 0-1 0-0 0, Beal 2-9 1-2 5, Cooke 10-23 0-0 25, Henderson 5-12 5-5 18, Amihere 2-8 2-5 6, Littleton 0-0 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 24-67 8-12 65
STANFORD (30-2)—Brink 3-4 0-0 6, Lexie Hull 4-17 8-8 18, Jones 11-14 0-0 24, Williams 4-14 0-0 8, Wilson 0-1 0-0 0, Belibi 0-3 0-0 0, Jerome 0-0 0-0 0, Prechtel 3-5 2-2 9, Lacie Hull 0-2 1-2 1, Jump 0-0 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 25-60 11-12 66
Halftime—Stanford 31-25. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 9-20 (Boston 1-3, Beal 0-1, Cooke 5-8, Henderson 3-7, Amihere 0-1), Stanford 5-8 (Hull 2-2, Jones 2-2, Williams 0-1, Prechtel 1-3). Assists—South Carolina 9 (Henderson 3), Stanford 11 (Hull 4). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—South Carolina 40 (Boston 7-16), Stanford 36 (Hull 6-13). Total Fouls—South Carolina 15, Stanford 15. Technical Fouls—None.
This story was originally published April 2, 2021 at 5:43 PM.
