South Carolina returns to Final Four, beating Duke 54-50

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) — Chloe Kitts scored 14 points and defending national champion South Carolina reached the Final Four of the women’s NCAA Tournament for a fifth straight year, beating Duke 54-50 on Sunday.

Coach Dawn Staley’s top-seeded Gamecocks are two wins away from becoming the first team to repeat as champions since UConn won four straight from 2013-16. South Carolina will play the winner of the Texas-TCU game that takes place Monday night.

The Final Four is Friday night in Tampa, Florida.

Second-seeded Duke was looking to get to its first national semifinals since 2006. That team lost in overtime to Maryland in the title game. The Blue Devils women were also looking to join the men’s program in the Final Four.

South Carolina (34-3) was stymied for most of the game by Duke’s stingy defense. The Gamecocks came in averaging 80.5 points, but points were difficult to come by Sunday.

The game was tied at 46-all when Sania Feagin, who finished with 12 points, hit a jumper to put the Gamecocks ahead with 4:21 left. Kitts added two free throws 42 seconds later to make it 50-46.

Toby Fournier, who led Duke with 18 points, scored with 3:21 left to get the Blue Devils (29-8) back within two.

The Blue Devils trailed 52-50 with 29.8 seconds left when South Carolina’s Bree Hall was called for an offensive foul on an inbound play, giving Duke a chance to tie the game.

Duke worked the clocked down before Ashlon Jackson airballed a 3-pointer from the wing with 7 seconds left. Hall got the rebound and South Carolina called timeout.

Kitts was fouled with 5.7 seconds left and calmly sank both free throws to seal the win much to the delight of a majority of the 11,252 fans in attendance who made the trek to Alabama.

Duke turned over the ball on the ensuing inbound play and the Gamecocks ran out the clock.

The Blue Devils trailed 26-22 at the half before starting the third quarter with a 16-6 run to take their first lead since the opening minutes. Fournier’s layup with 2:27 left made it 38-32. The Gamecocks trailed 42-38 heading into the fourth.

This was the first time the teams had met in the postseason.

GAMECOCK NOTABLES

• After defeating Duke, South Carolina heads to its fifth consecutive Final Four and seventh overall.
• Chloe Kitts, Sania Feagin and MiLaysia Fulwiley were named to the All-Regional Team, with Kitts being named MVP.
• Kitts led the way with 14 points, scoring eight in the final quarter, including two monumental free throws that extended the Gamecocks’ lead to four with five seconds remaining.
• Feagin stuffed the stat sheet, finishing with 12 points, and a team-high eight boards, three assists, two blocks and three steals.
• Te-Hina Paopao had a strong third quarter, scoring six of her nine points, highlighted but a layup that tied things up 42-42.
• Raven Johnson nabbed seven points, hitting a three in the second quarter that extended the Gamecocks’ lead to nine.