ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Camila Cardoso scored 22 points and top-seeded undefeated South Carolina held off a wild rally from Indiana to win 79-75 on Friday in the Albany 1 Women's NCAA Tournament. advanced to the finals.
South Carolina is three wins away from completing the 10th perfect season in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. The Gamecocks' next opponent is No. 3 seed Oregon State, which defeated Notre Dame earlier Friday.
Coach Dawn Staley's Gamecocks (35-0) won their first two games of March Madness, winning 52-47. They faced a much bigger challenge from No. 4 seed Indiana (26-6).
South Carolina built a 22-point lead in the third quarter, and then Indiana chased after Sidney Parrish, who led the team with 21 points.
The Hoosiers, looking for the biggest comeback in NCAA Tournament history, pulled within 74-72 on Mackenzie Holmes' layup with 1:08 left.
After a timeout, Raven Johnson calmly sank a 3-pointer from the wing 15 seconds later, giving the Shamox back a big cushion. Johnson scored 14 points.
Holmes hit another layup to make it 77-74.
After that, the Gamecocks made just 2 of 4 free throws with 21 seconds left, opening the door to a miraculous comeback, but Indiana couldn't score on offense and had a contested 3-point shot with 15 seconds left. I removed two.
South Carolina looked like it was going to dominate the other opponent. After leading 34-28 midway through the second quarter, they went on a 15-4 run to end the first half 49-32. All but two of those points came inside.
Defensively, Cardoso contained Holmes. She missed her first five shots and finally struck out a runner with less than a minute left. Holmes finished with 12 points.
The lead ballooned to 22 points early in the third quarter before the Hoosiers went on a 10-0 run to get within 61-50 with just over three minutes left. After the Gamecocks increased their advantage to 15, Indiana pulled within 65-55 at the end of the period.
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South Carolina will face Oregon State, which they defeated 59-42 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament three years ago.
