When the final buzzer sounded, the South Carolina players and coaches jumped and hugged each other, happy as ever.
Emotions were running high Sunday afternoon for a good reason. Top-seeded South Carolina defeated second-seeded Florida State 80-74 in the Elite Eight, clinching a spot in the Final Four for the first time in school history.
The Gamecocks have junior shooting guard Tiffany Mitchell to thank for that. When the game was on the line, Mitchell, who Gamecock head coach Dawn Staley has called South Carolina’s Superwoman, took over.
That’s nothing new, though. From day one, Mitchell has established herself as the go-to player on a team full of skill and talent. She lived up to that role on Sunday, scoring a season-high 21 points.
With the Gamecocks and Florida State knotted up in the final few minutes, it was Mitchell who scored the next seven points for South Carolina. Her dagger of a three-pointer with just over one minute remaining put the Gamecocks ahead by five points and South Carolina would hold on from that point on.
“It’s just great to finally take this program to a Final Four,” Mitchell said after the win. “It’s really fun to be able to enjoy this moment with our team.”
With the game coming down to the wire, there was no doubt in Staley’s mind that Mitchell would make an impact.
“She hit big buckets for us,” Staley said. “I had no doubt where the ball was going even though Alaina Coates was having a pretty good second half. But Tiffany Mitchell is the person we want. We want the ball in her hands when we need a basket.”
Even with the victory, South Carolina still has much more to play for — it’s season-long goal of winning a national championship is now just two wins away from becoming a reality. But Sunday’s victory was definitely something to celebrate. The win places the Gamecocks onto women’s college basketball’s biggest stage, while validating the job head coach Dawn Staley since arriving in 2008.
“I think back to my coaching at Temple University, this is the dream that we sold them on; come to Temple and you’ll win a national championship,” Staley said. “Now it’s come to South Carolina Carolina; you’ll win a national championship. You’ll go to Final Fours. It makes it all make sense. Now we have credibility to what we’re selling.”
South Carolina’s biggest victory in program history was anything but an easy one.
Florida State believed it was destined to play in the Final Four and the Seminoles came out with a good game plan that worked for much of the game.
South Carolina wouldn’t hold a lead until halfway through the second half because of Florida State’s ability to score on the inside and from outside, while frustrating the Gamecocks’ with its defense.
Florida State led by as many as 10 points in the first half as South Carolina struggled to play mistake-free, committing eight turnovers before halftime.
Led by sophomore guard Leticia Romer’s 13 point performance, Florida State seemed poised to spoil South Carolina’s tournament run.
But South Carolina began to correct earlier mistakes. Turnovers were replaced with trips to the free throw line and the Gamecocks’ defense intensified as the game went on.
Sophomore center Alaina Coates, who was named the Greensboro Regional’s Most Outstanding Player, continued her good play and scored 12 of her 14 points in the second half as the two teams went back-and-forth.
Coming off the bench, freshman point guard Bianca Cuevas also played very well, scoring nine points in as many minutes to help South Carolina snap out of a funk in the first half.
Although South Carolina struggled early on, Staley was never worried.
“I just felt we were in a good place, even though we were down,” Staley said. “It was familiar territory, so we didn’t panic. We just had to let the game settle in.”
Having survived against Florida State, South Carolina is now one week away from playing in the Final Four in Tampa Bay. The Gamecocks aren’t content with where they are right now and plan on playing even better down in Florida.
“I’ll tell you this: We are not just going to show up and just be happy to be there,” Staley said.