Stepping onto the Golden 1 Center court, South Carolina and TCU were ready for their highest stakes game of the season thus far.
To rise to the occasion or to crumble? That was the question racing through the minds of both teams. To start the game, the Horned Frogs saw themselves on the desired side of the coin.
In the opening five minutes, TCU took a 12-4 lead that the Gamecocks started to slowly chip away at. By the end of the first quarter, they had not only caught back up, but actually taken a 16-14 lead.
The second quarter started as a back-and-forth affair, but South Carolina were able to tighten their grip on the game as time went on, with sophomore forward Joyce Edwards entering a solo 6-0 scoring run during that stretch.
TCU’s shooting slowed down in the second half and South Carolina refused to take their foot off the gas. From that point on, the Gamecocks put the game on cruise control and coasted their way into a Final Four berth.
South Carolina finished the game with a 78-52 victory. Through four tournament victories, the Gamecocks have yet to have an opponent finish within 25 points of them.
As the Horned Frogs walked off of the court for the final time this season, South Carolina celebrated at center court as Sacramento Regional 4 champions, watching as confetti was tossed over their head coach Dawn Staley.
Gamecocks sophomore forward Joyce Edwards posted a double-double as she led her team past the Horned Frogs, finishing the game with 24 points and 12 rebounds, as well as blocking three shots on the other side of the ball.
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“It was single coverage, there wasn’t really multiple people coming at me,” Edwards said. “Whenever you get single coverage, coach will tell you to go score.”
The game also saw a breakout performance from South Carolina freshman guard Agot Makeer, who scored a career-high 18 points to go with four rebounds and three assists. Both Makeer and Edwards made the Sacramento Regional 4 All-Tournament team, alongside their teammate and Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, senior guard Raven Johnson.
“I feel like my mindset changed, I just started approaching games differently,” Makeer said. “I feel like it wasn’t just one dimensional thinking, I just wanted to go and do whatever I can to get the team to win.”
Staley had high praises for her players who were selected for the honor.
“[It was a] hard fought game one that took us a little bit to open it up,” Staley said. “We did that by the play of [Makeer and Edwards].”
The Gamecocks’ appearance in Phoenix will be their sixth-straight trip to the Final Four, and they’ve won the national championship in three of their last five tournaments.
“Anytime you’re able to play on the third weekend in the NCAA Tournament is always special,” Staley said. “The work that it requires for you to get to this place is a lot.”
South Carolina’s defense was dominant in the game and shut down the paint, an area where the Horned Frogs like to do a lot of their damage. TCU graduate guard Marta Suarez, who was coming off of a career-high 33 point game against Virginia, scored just nine in the game on 4-for-17 shooting.
As expected, graduate Horned Frogs guard Olivia Miles was doing it all, scoring 18 points and dishing out six dimes in her final collegiate game. Miles and Suarez were also present on the All-Tournament team.
For the Horned Frogs, it’s their second straight loss in the Elite Eight. It marks their third season under head coach Mark Campbell, who was hired from Sacramento State after he took the Hornets to the 2023 women’s NCAA tournament.
South Carolina will take on UConn in their Final Four game in Phoenix, Arizona on Friday at 4 p.m.
