South Carolina shows off moves, marches on

STOCKTON, Calif. -- Before they climbed the ladder to take their turn cutting the nets, Kaela Davis and A'ja Wilson started dancing. And dancing. The band blared inches away, and they danced some more.

A spontaneous moment for South Carolina's two biggest stars: One headed to her first Final Four, and the other going back to chase the school's first NCAA championship.

"It was just one of those in-the-moment things, having fun. We love our band," Davis said.

Moments before tipoff, Wilson pulled Bianca Cuevas-Moore into a quick embrace, then South Carolina's 6-5 center began the night by winning the opening jump and the Gamecocks were on their way to the Final Four, holding off Florida State 71-64 on Monday to win the Stockton Regional.

Most Outstanding Player Davis scored immediately off the tip and again with a timely left-handed drive with 1:42 to go on the way to 23 points. Wilson finished with 16 despite foul trouble, and Allisha Gray drove her way to 11 points for top-seeded South Carolina (31-4). Dawn Staley's Gamecocks reached the Final Four for the second time in three seasons.

Leticia Romero cut the South Carolina lead to five on a jumper with 3:51 left. Then Brittany Brown's steal and layup at 3:25 made it 65-62, but the rally fizzled from there for the No. 3 seed Seminoles (28-7).

Tyasha Harris added 16 points for South Carolina, which made things uncomfortable all game for Romero. She had 16 points on 6-of-23 shooting as Florida State fell short of the program's first Final Four.

The Seminoles shot 36.6 percent (26 for 71).

"We just didn't hit shots. That was the big bottom line," Coach Sue Semrau said. "You have to put the ball in the basket."

Davis, daughter of former NBA player Antonio Davis, delivered on both ends. She shot 10 for 15 and is headed to her Final Four debut Friday against Stanford. She transferred from Georgia Tech for the chance to do something special.

"The end goal is just to get to the Final Four," she said. "It makes it 10 times better to say you want to do something and accomplish it."

Sports on 03/28/2017

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