Playing their best basketball, Gamecocks look Final Four bound again
The defining moment from South Carolina’s convincing 73-47 victory over Kansas State Sunday night at Colonial Life Arena occurred in the third quarter.
By that point, the outcome was obvious – the Gamecocks would advance to the Sweet 16 for the third straight year, this time to Sioux Falls, S.D., situated somewhere on the northern Great Plains.
Kansas State center Breanna Lewis, her team’s lone offensive weapon, positioned herself in the low post and caught the entry pass. She pivoted into the lane and attempted a shot about five feet from the basket.
That’s when USC’s A’ja Wilson, who would later score her 1,000 career point, planted the exclamation point on the Gamecocks’ 33rd win of the season.
Winning the battle of 6-foot-5 forwards, Wilson rose up and swatted away the shot (one of her three blocks), much to the delight of the crowd of 10,048 on hand for the final home game of the 2015-16 season.
Wilson’s block was merely one of dozens of euphoric moments for the Gamecocks in the second round matchup. Clearly, USC has the look of a national championship contending team.
Sunday night, the Gamecocks ran up and down the floor (14 fast break points), dominated the offensive glass (18 offensive rebounds vs. 20 defensive rebounds for Kansas State) and paint (36 points in the lane), harassed K-State defensively into 32.1 percent shooting and took advantage of Kansas State’s mistakes (20 points off turnovers).
In short, they did everything right.
Lewis scored 21 points on 9-of-19 shooting, but the rest of the Wildcats were a combined 9-of-37, a lowly24.3 percent.
How suffocating was USC’s perimeter defense? Kansas State’s three starting guards combined for more turnovers (6) than field goals (4). They were 4-of-22 from the field as Lewis was the only Wildcat player able to enjoy any type of success on the offensive end.
“Their pressure really got to us on the wings,” Kansas State coach Jeff Mittie said. “That took away any advantage we might have had. Give South Carolina credit. They really pressured us. We had some communication issues on where we didn’t want to throw the ball. That was on us.
“When we made some mistakes, they jumped on them. That’s to their credit. Many times you get away with those mistakes against lesser teams. Tonight, they jumped them.”
As the old saying goes, all for one will always beat one for all.
In their last eight games, the Gamecocks have won by 20 or more points six times and by 26 or more points on four occasions.
Clearly, the Gamecocks are playing their best basketball at the right time of the year – March.
“We’re playing very consistently,” USC head coach Dawn Staley said. “This is a different group. They can practice not so well and turn around and give you that kind of effort (in a game). It puts you on edge as a coach trying to figure out which team is going to take the floor.”
Sustain this high level of play in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight rounds and the Gamecocks should return to the Final Four in Indianapolis, where a possible rematch with the powerful Connecticut Huskies awaits.
For now, a rematch with Syracuse awaits in the Sweet 16, albeit at a place few Gamecock players have traveled to in their lives. South Dakota? Hopefully, the frozen tundra won’t look anything like Storrs, Conn. 13 months ago when the Gamecocks were greeted by about four feet of snow on the ground when they arrived in New England for the No. 1 vs. No. 2 showdown with UConn.
For Staley, getting back to the Sweet 16 never gets old.
“It’s a big deal because we haven’t been here very often,” Staley said. “We’re going to smell our flowers as we continue to advance in this NCAA Tournament. You never know, so you want to enjoy it.”
The Gamecocks routed the Orange in the second round last year and Friday’s matchup marks the third time the two teams have squared off in the past 16 months. In fact, the Gamecocks are familiar with all three of the other teams competing in Sioux Falls as SEC rival Tennessee and Ohio State (USC’s opening game opponent back on Nov. 13) battle in the other Sweet 16 contest there.
“Syracuse is playing a little more up tempo,” Staley said. “I doubt Syracuse will play us the same way they played last year, packing it in. They have pressed for 40 minutes all year long. I doubt they will change who they are and what they bring to the table since what they are doing has got them into their first Sweet 16.”
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