The Stanford Cardinal fell to the South Carolina Gamecocks in the national semifinal Friday night at the home of the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks.
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“My mom would say I’m born with it”, Wilson said.
“I can’t even put into words the feeling that I have right now”.
“It’s very challenging”, VanDerveer said.
For Mississippi State, the number is 19, as in the team’s rank in offensive points per possession nationally this year. Against Mississippi State, the team that ended The UConn Streak, but 0-2 this season against SC. But they have been forced to get faster this postseason without 6-4 senior center Alaina Coates.
“I’m 0-fer”, SC coach Staley said.
“I’m still your friend, I’m not trying to bash you”, she said of her methods.
The silver lining of life without Coates is a golden NCAA title opportunity.
“It’s exciting. I had no doubt that they would make it this far and I don’t plan on them losing”, she said.
No. 1 seed SC vs.
“It’s go time now”, Gray said of her mindset after getting the cut Thursday. She shot 7-for-14 from the field. She’s gotten us SEC Championships, both regular season and tournament championships. During the NCAA Tournament, they are up to 1.212. That gives SC a different look than they had with the big lineup that we faced. The first belonged the Cardinal, who outran the Gamecocks on the floor, outfought them on the boards, and stymied them defensively, forcing them to settle for jump shots and forces, en route to a 29-20 halftime lead.
“The second half, I thought we just imposed our will from a defensive standpoint, sped the game up, and got playing at a pace which benefited our style of play”. “I think we have the best of both worlds in that if you take one thing away, we have some other things that we can rely on because we have the talent to do”.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting rhythm in the first quarter as Stanford shot 35.7 percent and SC was a shade worse at 35.3. “I think that kind of helped me overcome just kind of the way the game was going for me”.
“She’s gone from being a great high school player to now becoming a great college player”, Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer said. “Fortunately I’ve been around some great players to get us back at this point to compete for a national championship”. The Cardinal got past Notre Dame 76-75 to clinch a trip to Dallas. We just kept shooting and it came back to us.
The Cardinal then could not buy a basket during a struggling third quarter that came in large part due to the inability for backcourt leaders such as Brittany McPhee, Marta Sniezek and Samuelson to knock down the shots that powered Stanford into the Final Four.
Stanford grabbed control in the second quarter, opening the period on a 9-0 run to build a 21-14 with 6:22 left in the first half. But she was back on the bench after only 73 seconds, standing behind the bench briefly while stretching her ankle and grimacing in pain.
So what statistical indicators will decide the national championship over these final three games of the season? “You know, a lot of it is game-to-game”.
“It’s said that she’s generously listed at 5’6”, but the thing about diminutive guards at this level is that they have to be insanely quick and crafty on top of the energy and athleticism they bring on the court. For most of the season, Davis has been a spot-up shooter, and a good one. “We gotta do it”. “The team, they get the ball to her”.
SC went ahead 35-33 when Wilson, with defenders around her like most of the night, found Cuevas-Moore open for a 3-pointer that she hit from right in front her teammates on the bench during that big run.
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But this unfolding wrinkle gives SC an edge that’s fast and aggressive and harder to handle than a bucking bronco at the Fort Worth Stockyards.
