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(1) South Carolina 78, (3) NC State 59
All-America center Kamilla Cardoso scored 22 points and unbeaten South Carolina emphatically kept its perfect season going, advancing to the championship game of the women’s NCAA Tournament with a 78-59 victory over North Carolina State on Friday night.
The talented and tenacious Gamecocks (37-0) led by one at halftime before putting their full arsenal on display in the third quarter. They outscored the Wolfpack 29-6 to turn what had been a tense matchup into another blowout.
Aziaha James scored 20 points for No. 3 seed N.C. State (31-7), which knocked off a No. 1 and a No. 2 seed to get to Cleveland.
The Wolfpack had no shot against the Gamecocks, who were a unanimous No. 1 most of the season in the AP Top 25 and are aiming to become the first undefeated national champions since UConn in 2016.
Cardoso added 11 rebounds while playing just 23 minutes. She hurt her right leg late in the first half and returned in the third quarter, wearing a black compression sleeve on the leg. She did not play in the fourth.
Ashlyn Watkins was just as dominant inside for the Gamecocks, finishing with 20 rebounds along with eight points. Raven Johnson added 13 points.
N.C. State coach Wes Moore knew his team would have to play its best to have any chance of bringing down bigger, badder South Carolina.
On Thursday, he likened the semifinal to a David-vs.-Goliath matchup and promised his team would “put the stone in the sling and let it rip.” The Wolfpack needed more than stones.
Relishing the underdog role, the Wolfpack were hoping to replicate some of the magic the school’s conjured in 1983, when N.C. State, coached by Jim Valvano, shocked the hoop world by beating heavily favored Houston in the NCAA title game — an upset that helped define March Madness.
But unlike a year ago, when South Carolina stormed into the Final Four in Dallas with an identical 36-0 record before losing to Clark and Iowa in the semis, the Gamecocks kept this season pristine.
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