Gamecocks secure rematch with No. 4 seed North Carolina
The South Carolina women’s basketball team (29-4, 14-2 SEC) continued its dominance of the Stanford region Tuesday night, thrashing Oregon State 78-69 in the second round of the NCAA women’s tournament.
Three South Carolina players registered double-digit rebounds as they dominated the post en route to a Sweet 16 berth.
Sophomore guard Tiffany Mitchell was shut down in the first half, but the reigning SEC Player of the Year scored 20 points in the second half, good for a double-double paired with her 10 rebounds.
Junior forward Aleighsa Welch led the team with 21 points, going 8-of-11 from the field.
South Carolina shot slightly more than 79 percent from the free throw line, converting on 34 of 43 chances.
The Gamecocks held the Beavers’ leading scorer, guard Sydney Wiese, scoreless until the waning minutes of the game. Wiese finally connected on her first three-pointer with just under two minutes left after missing on her first 10 shots from beyond the arc.
Wiese entered the game averaging 14.5 points per game, accruing 492 points on the season, the most on the team by 187 points.
South Carolina will move on to face North Carolina (26-9, 10-6 ACC), the No. 4 seed in the region, in Stanford, Calif., on Sunday.
The Tar Heels handed the Gamecocks their first loss earlier this season, beating South Carolina 74-66 in the Carolinas Challenge.