Gamecocks vs. Cardinal in Women's Final Four

NCAA TOURNAMENT FINAL FOUR
#6/5 SOUTH CAROLINA (26-4) VS. STANFORD (29-2)
6 P.M. (ET)  |  SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS  |  ALAMODOME

NCAA Final Four Digital Program | South Carolina Game Notes | TV: ESPN | Radio: 107.5 The Game | Live Stats 

GAMECOCK NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Appearances: 17 (1982, 1986, 1988, 1989,1990, 1991, 2002, 2003, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
Overall Record (Staley Era): 34-15 (26-7)
Sweet 16 Appearances: 11 (1982, 1990, 2002, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021)
Elite Eight Appearances: 5 (2002, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2021)
Final Four Appearances: 3 (2015, 2017, 2021)
National Championships: 1 (2017)
Italics indicates during the Dawn Staley era

ABOUT TONIGHT’S GAME

• The Gamecocks are 1-5 all-time against Stanford with the lone win coming in the two teams’ last meeting in the NCAA National Semifinals (2017).
• For the second time in this NCAA Tournament, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley is facing off with one of her former USA Basketball head coaches. The first of Staley’s three Olympic gold medals came with Tara VanDerveer at the helm.
• South Carolina is playing in its third NCAA Final Four in program history, all coming in the last six tournaments. The Gamecocks are 1-1 all-time in national semifinal games.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• South Carolina earned a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in the last seven tournaments after playing the toughest schedule in the country. The Gamecocks’ opponents have a combined .674 winning percentage, which tops LSU, Texas, Kentucky and Tennessee.
• The Gamecocks have been a dominant rebounding team all season and have not been out-rebounded in a game. They are fourth in the nation in rebounds per game (47.2), third in rebounding margin (+14.8) and ninth in offensive rebounding (16.1). In 13 games against ranked opponents, those marks are similar at 46.4 rpg, +11.8 margin and 16.8 offensive rpg.
• The Gamecock frontcourt has come alive in the NCAA Tournament with junior Victaria Saxton (12.8 ppg) and sophomore Laeticia Amihere (11.0 ppg) lifting their scoring averages into double figures at the event. That duo along with Aliyah Boston have accounted for 55.4 percent of the Gamecocks’ 69.0 points per game.
• The Athletic’s National Player of the Year and consensus first-team All-American Aliyah Boston has been a game-changer all year for the Gamecocks, averaging a double-double overall, in SEC play and against ranked opponents. The NCAA Tournament hasn’t been much different as the forward leads the team with 14.5 points and 9.5 rebounds per game in the event so far while handing out seven assists and swiping four steals through four games. Her impact goes beyond her individual stats as her defensive presence has helped hold opponents to just 48.5 points per tournament game.
• First-Team All-SEC guard Zia Cooke took a few NCAA Tournament games to settle in, but she exploded in the regional rounds to power the Gamecocks into the Final Four and earn Hemisfair Region MOP honors, averaging 16.5 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists and shooting 46.4 percent, including 6-of-9 from 3-point range, over the last two games.
• Point guard Destanni Henderson led the SEC in assists per game (5.1) while adding 12.0 points per game. Her pace and defensive pressure have powered the Gamecocks all season.

BY THE NUMBERS

4 Four Gamecocks average double-figure points in this NCAA Tournament, including two whose averages exceed their single-digit season marks.

48.5 South Carolina has allowed just 48.5 points per game in this NCAA Tournament.

55.7 The Gamecocks have scored 55.7 percent of their points in the paint this season, and that number rises to 57.2 percent in NCAA Tournament action.