Birmingham, ala. (AP) – Chloe Kitts scored 14 points and the defending national champion of Southern Carolina reached the final four of the NCAA female tournament for a fifth consecutive year, defeating Duke 54-50 on Sunday.
The best-classified Gamecocks of coach Dawn Staley are two victories to become the first team to repeat themselves as champions since Uconn won four from 2013 to 2016. The South Carolina will play the Texas-TCU winner which will take place on Monday evening.
The Final Four is Friday evening in Tampa, Florida.
Duke, the second seeded, sought to go to his first national semi-finals since 2006. This team lost in overtime against Maryland in the title match. The Blue Devils women also sought to join the male program in the Final Four.
Southern Carolina (34-3) was blocked during most of the game by Duke’s Avare Defense. The Gamecocks came on average 80.5 points, but the points were difficult to find on Sunday.
The match was equal to 46 years old when Sania Feagin, who finished with 12 points, struck a rider to put the gamecocks forward with 4:21 on the left. Kitts added two free throws 42 seconds later to do so 50-46.
Toby Fournier, who led Duke with 18 points, scored with 3:21 on the left to recover the Blue Devils (29-8) in both.
The Blue Devils dragged 52-50 with 29.8 seconds to play when Bree Hall of Southern Caroline was called for an offensive fault on an incoming game, giving Duke a chance to link the match.
Duke developed the clock before Ashlon Jackson had a 3 -point wing point with 7 seconds to play. Hall obtained the rebound and the South Carolina called Timeout.
Kitts was the victim of a fault with 5.7 seconds to the left and calmly sank the two free throws to seal the victory, to the delight of the majority of the 11,252 fans present who hiked in Alabama.
Duke turned the ball over the incoming game that followed and the Gamecocks ran to the clock.
The Blue Devils dragged 26-22 at halftime before starting the third quarter with a sequence of 16-6 to take their first advance in the first minutes. The Fournier lay-up with 2:27 on the left made it 38-32. The Gamecocks dragged 42-38 before the fourth.
It was the first time that the teams have met in the playoffs.
Take -out
Duke: With a young second -year student nucleus, the Blue Devils will try to rely on this Elite Eight Run.
South Carolina: Gamecocks are now two victories of the cementing of their place in the history of female university basketball.
Tide Tide
The South Carolina dragged 42-38 before the fourth quarter before scoring the first eight points of the period. Gamecocks never dragged after that.
Key statistics
South Carolina has relied heavily on its bench all season, but Duke’s reserves have outlined the games 24-9 of the Gamecocks.