The South Carolina women's basketball team will advance to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the sixth year in a row. The Gamecocks beat Florida State 72-64 at UNC Charlotte on Sunday.
The Florida State Seminoles were a No. 5 seed as they finished their season with a 24-9 record, while South Carolina was a number four seed with a 23-9 record after this game was played in the second round.
The Gamecocks have taken the Seminoles out of the NCAA Tournament three times in the past five seasons.
"Somebody has to win and somebody has to go home. I do feel for Florida State, because we've been in this situation before," head coach Dawn Staley said. "They gave us an incredible effort — 27 offensive rebounds. That's memorable."
South Carolina started guards Tyasha Harris, Te'a Cooper, Destanni Henderson, Doniyah Cliney and forward Alexis Jennings for the round two matchup.
Junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan led South Carolina with 20 points after tying the game by shooting a three with one second left on the clock in the first quarter. Herbert Harrigan sat out the last game for the first half for disciplinary reasons.
Senior forward Alexis Jennings follows Herbert Harrigan with 16 points. After being tied with the Seminoles at the end of the first quarter, the Gamecocks led with the most points at the end of each subsequent quarter.
South Carolina also led in free throws, hitting 20-24 compared to Florida State's 7-11. South Carolina also posted 17 more rebounds than the Seminoles.
The fourth quarter started slow, with both teams remaining scoreless for the first two minutes until Alexis Jennings made a jumper at with 7:48 left in the game.
A late technical foul on Kiah Gillespie ultimately sealed the win for the Gamecocks with 9.8 seconds left to play in the game.
South Carolina will play the winner of the the California-Baylor matchup on Saturday in Greensboro, North Carolina.