No. 1 South Carolina WBB advances with close win over Indiana in Sweet 16
Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks (34-0) are the No. 1 overall seed for the 2024 NCAA Tournament. They continue their journey into March Madness at 5 p.m. Friday (ESPN) with a Sweet 16 game against No. 4 Indiana at MVP Arena.
The State’s Payton Titus and Chapel Fowler are on site from Albany, New York to provide updates from the game. Follow along as USC tries to reach the halfway point of an NCAA national championship run.
Final score: South Carolina 79, Indiana 75
USC survives and is on to the Elite Eight, where it will play No. 3 Oregon State. The Gamecocks nearly blow a 22-point lead but never lose in and make some late free throws and play excellent defense on IU’s final possession (blocking one three, contesting two others) to get past a feisty Hoosiers squad.
USC and Oregon will play Sunday afternoon for a spot in the Final Four.
USC hanging on
It’s 78-75 South Carolina with 16.1 seconds to go in the Sweet 16. The Gamecocks have possession after Indiana hit one of two free throws after a shooting foul down four (78-74).
2-point game
From 22 to two. South Carolina leads 74-72 with 58.7 seconds remaining and has possession. On the previous possession, with Indiana down four, Mackenzie Holmes got past Kamilla Cardoso for a layup. Buckle up.
Hoosiers pushing Gamecocks
USC’s 22-point lead dropped all the way down to five, 65-60, at the 7:20 mark of the fourth quarter after a furious Indiana run. The Hoosiers still trail by seven with 4:50 to go, but they aren’t giving up and have outscored USC 30-20 this half.
End Q3: South Carolina 65, Indiana 55
Some life from the Hoosiers after the break. They outscore USC 23-16 and cut their deficit to 10 points after trailing by as many as 22 in the period. IU is up to 38% on 3-pointers (10-26) and has three guards with 11 or more points.
That was USC’s lowest scoring of the game by a long shot: 16 points, compared to to 26 in Q1 and 23 in Q2. South Carolina is 15-29 on layups (an average rate) and has eight turnovers entering the final period. Quiet games for starting guards Raven Johnson and Te-Hina Paopao (8 points apiece).
Halftime: South Carolina 49, Indiana 32
A lot of good shot-making in that quarter. USC was 9 of 16 (56.3%) and IU was 7 of 13 (53.8%). End result: A +5 scoring advantage for the Gamecocks in the second quarter. Center Kamilla Cardoso is heating up with 13 points on an efficient 6-7 shooting, and USC has 24 of its 49 points in the paint.
Indiana’s shooting hasn’t been great. The Hoosiers are just 6-17 on threes and have had to overly rely on that aspect of their offense with Cardoso shutting down IU leading scorer Mackenzie Holmes (4 points, 1-6 shooting and two fouls in 13 minutes). South Carolina is up 17 and halfway to the Elite Eight.
End Q1: South Carolina 26, Indiana 15
This game was tied 12-12 with 4:27 to go. Then South Carolina did South Carolina things and ended the quarter on a 14-3 run to go up 11 points after one. The Gamecocks are a sizzling 5-7 on 3-pointers and seven of eight players have scored (led by forward Bree Hall’s 6).
Indiana hasn’t been afraid to let it fly against the Gamecocks; the Hoosiers have already taken 12 threes. Points in the paint may be hard to come by, though. USC’s Kamilla Cardoso towers over IU’s Mackenzie Holmes (who already has two personal fouls).
First team locks in Elite Eight spot
One half of the Albany 1 regional championship is set.
No. 3 Oregon State upset No. 2 Notre Dame, 70-65, in the early game Friday to advance to Sunday’s Elite Eight game against the winner of South Carolina-Indiana.
The Beavers held on late despite committing 26 turnovers and got 20 points from forward Timea Gardiner and 18 from forward Raegan Beers.
It’s Oregon State’s first Elite Eight appearance and first win over a top two seed since 2018.
Notre Dame had won 10 games in a row, including an ACC Tournament championship run, before falling in the Sweet 16. Star guard Hannah Hidalgo had 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting.
A chance to be elite
South Carolina has qualified for eight Elite Eights in program history and seven in the Staley era. The Gamecocks have also made three straight Elite Eight rounds dating back to 2021. (The tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic.)
The last time USC missed the fourth round of the tournament came in 2018-19, when the Gamecocks were a No. 4 seed and lost to No. 1 Baylor (and now-LSU coach Kim Mulkey) in the Sweet 16 in Greensboro, North Carolina.
Point spread
Indiana is the highest seed South Carolina has faced this tournament. Not a problem, according to oddsmakers. ESPN BET has USC as a 16.5-point betting favorite over Indiana as tip-off approaches.
The Gamecocks were a whopping 55.5-point favorite in their NCAA Tournament opener vs. No. 16 Presbyterian, and they were a 21.5-point favorite against No. 8 UNC in the second round. The latter point spread turned heads, but it was more than accurate: South Carolina beat UNC by 47 points last Sunday to get here.
South Carolina WBB vs. Indiana game info
- Who: No. 1 South Carolina (34-0) vs. No. 4 Indiana (26-5)
- Where: MVP Arena in Albany, New York
- When: 5 p.m. Friday
- TV: ESPN
- Radio: 107.5 FM in Columbia area (see full list of affiliates here)
- Stream: Via WatchESPN.com or the ESPN app
- Betting line: South Carolina by 16.5 points (ESPN BET)
This story was originally published March 29, 2024 at 3:39 PM with the headline "No. 1 South Carolina WBB advances with close win over Indiana in Sweet 16."
