ALBANY, N.Y. — With her team's perfect season on the line, South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley had total faith that Raven Johnson would make the necessary plays.
The sophomore guard did just that for the NCAA tournament's overall No. 1 seed, hitting a huge 3-pointer in the final minute to help the Gamecocks remain unbeaten with a 79-75 win over Indiana in a Sweet 16 matchup Friday in the Albany 1 Region.
"I saw Raven's eyes coming down the stretch as our lead was diminishing, and I knew she wasn't going to let us lose," Staley said. "She was going to do something. She had two big baskets."
Johnson's 3 came after South Carolina (35-0) nearly blew a 22-point lead over fourth-seeded Indiana (26-6) in the second half. The advantage was down to 74-72 when Staley called a timeout to set up a play that was supposed to go to 6-foot-7 Kamilla Cardoso, who led the team with 22 points. The star center, a former prep standout at Chattanooga's Hamilton Heights, was being double-teamed when she caught the ball, so she passed it to Johnson for the 3.
"I was open, and all I could think was: 'Let it go. I don't want to lose,'" said Johnson, who scored 14 points. "Just going from last year. Nobody can sag off me this year, and I take that very personal. And I get in the gym every day and put up reps and I think that's where it comes from, the confidence."
Last season, Iowa sagged off Johnson in a Final Four matchup, switching its defensive focus elsewhere, and the strategy paid off as the Hawkeyes ended South Carolina's undefeated season. Johnson got in the gym during the offseason and has become a better 3-pointer shooter, hitting 8% more of her attempts from behind the arc this season compared to last.
"I see the work that Raven puts in every single day. Every single day she gets shots up, before or after practice," Staley said. "They have a quota to meet each and every day. I see that before. I see that after. So I don't think about last year. I don't think about any of that when it comes to Raven."
The inside presence of Cardoso, who also had seven rebounds, four assists and three blocks, was key as usual for the Gamecocks, who outscored the Hoosiers 42-26 in the paint.
South Carolina is three wins away from completing the 10th perfect season in NCAA Division I women's basketball history. Next up for the Southeastern Conference's Gamecocks is Sunday's Elite Eight matchup with third-seeded Oregon State, which knocked off second-seeded Notre Dame earlier Friday.
The Gamecocks, who are seeking the program's third NCAA title overall and second in three years, had run through their first two games in this year's tourney, winning by 52 and 47. They faced a much bigger challenge from the Big Ten's Hoosiers.
South Carolina built a 22-point lead in the third quarter before Indiana got going behind Sydney Parrish, who led the team with 21 points.
The Hoosiers, who were trying to pull off the biggest comeback in NCAA tourney history, got within 74-72 on Mackenzie Holmes' layup with 1:08 left. That's when Johnson responded with her 3.
Holmes, who finished with 12 points, then hit another layup to make it 77-74. The Gamecocks hit only two of four free throws in the final 21 seconds to leave the door open for a miraculous comeback, but Indiana couldn't convert on the offensive end, missing two contested 3-point attempts in the final 15 seconds.
"We're very disappointed," Indiana coach Teri Moren said. "Felt like if we had a few more minutes, the outcome would be a little different for us tonight."
South Carolina led 34-28 midway through the second quarter before going on a 15-4 run to close the half up 49-32. The lead ballooned to 22 points early in the third, but the Hoosiers were within 10 at the end of the period, 65-55.
AP photo by Mary Altaffer / Oregon State forward Raegan Beers (15) points toward the sideline as Notre Dame's Natalija Marshall trails behind during an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game Friday in Albany, N.Y.Oregon State 70, Notre Dame 65
Oregon State's post players stepped up in a big way, and the Beavers held Notre Dame freshman sensation Hannah Hidalgo in check to advance to a regional final for the first time in six years. It's the third Elite Eight berth overall for the Pac-12's Beavers (27-7), who reached the Final Four in 2016 but fell one win short of the national semifinals two years later.
Atlantic Coast Conference tournament champion Notre Dame (28-7) was in the Sweet 16 for the third time in a row but hasn't advanced beyond that round since finishing as the NCAA runner-up in 2019, which was a year after the Fighting Irish won the program's second national title.
Oregon State's sophomore forwards both produced double-doubles, with 6-3 Timea Gardiner scoring 21 points and pulling down 11 rebounds as 6-4 Raegan Beers went for 18 and 13. They were joined in double-digit scoring by freshman guard Donovyn Hunter with 11 points.
The Beavers shot 60% from the floor while keeping Notre Dame to 36% and outrebounding the Irish 42-24.
"All of us over the spring, over the summer and into this year, we came in with the mindset of understanding what we needed to accomplish defensively in order to win those close games," Gardiner said. "So this year that core group, we know what it takes now. So we know what it takes to win. We're obviously doing it, so it's super fun."
Sonia Citron scored 22 points and Maddy Westbeld added 19 points Notre Dame, which had won 11 games in a row since a 16-point loss to North Carolina State in mid-February.
Hidalgo, a 5-6 guard who had averaged 22.9 points this season, shot 4-for-17 as she was held to 10 points, matching her season low. She also missed close to four minutes at the start of the second quarter after officials ordered her to remove a stud from her nose. NCAA women's basketball Rule 1-25.7 says no jewelry is permitted to be worn during games, but Irish coach Niele Ivey said Hidalgo had played with the piercing in all season.
Oregon State led by a point at halftime, then opened the third quarter on an 11-2 run that forced an Irish timeout. Notre Dame rallied to grab a 59-57 lead with just more than four minutes left in the game, but a 3-pointer from Hunter at the 2:51 mark put Oregon State back in front for good.
Notre Dame has been using a six-player rotation since losing 6-4 forward Kylee Watson to an ACL tear in the ACC semifinals, and Oregon State capitalized on its height advantage early, throwing the ball into the paint as Beers and Gardiner combined for 14 of the 17 first-quarter points scored by the Beavers.
AP photo by Steve Dykes / N.C. State guard Madison Hayes drives past Stanford's Talana Lepolo, center, as teammate River Baldwin looks on during an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game Friday in Portland, Ore.PORTLAND 4 REGION
N.C. State 77, Stanford 67
PORTLAND, Ore. — Unrattled by Stanford's halftime lead, N.C. State answered with a big third quarter and shut down All-America forward Cameron Brink for a spot in the Elite Eight.
Aziaha James had 29 points as the third-seeded Wolfpack outscored the second-seeded Cardinal 28-10 in the third quarter, leading by as many as 15 points in the fourth on their way to a decisive Sweet 16 victory. Saniya Rivers added 13 points and seven rebounds for the Wolfpack (30-6), who are headed to the Elite Eight for the third time in program history and second time in three years.
N.C. State plays again Sunday in a regional final versus top-seeded Texas, which rolled past fourth-seeded Gonzaga in Friday's second semifinal.
Chattanooga native Madison Hayes, a former East Hamilton standout and a starter for the Wolfpack, had 10 rebounds, seven points, three assists and a steal against Stanford, which is leaving the Pac-12 this summer and will join N.C. State in the ACC next season.
Brink fouled out with 8:10 left in the game as she finished with 13 points, nine rebounds and seven blocks in her final game for Stanford (30-6). Kiki Iriafen led the Cardinal with 26 points and 10 rebounds.
"We just kept coming in the huddle and just saying, 'Keep your head up. Don't worry about our missed shots. Don't worry about the foul calls. Just keep going. Play our game,'" James said. "I think we handled that very well."
Stanford closed out a season that included coach Tara VanDerveer becoming college basketball's career wins leader. The Cardinal were vying for their 23rd appearance in the Elite Eight. They had reached that March Madness milestone in five of the past seven NCAA tournaments.
N.C. State went on a 13-2 run in the third quarter, with the spurt capped by a pair of 3-pointers from James that put the Wolfpack ahead 49-45. They led 55-47 going into the fourth, and James opened the final period with a 3 that beat the shot clock.
"Aziaha was really clicking on the offensive end," Wolfpack coach Wes Moore said. "We kept going to her, and she kept making big shots."
Moore said he was proud of his entire team, winning "against a great team and Tara VanDerveer, who I have great respect for. Anytime you can win against them, it's special."
The Wolfpack, a site host for the opening weekend of the tourney, defeated Tennessee 79-72 in the second round in Raleigh. It helped erase the bad feeling from the season before, when they fell to Princeton in the opening round.
The Cardinal needed overtime to get past seventh-seeded Iowa State 87-81 in a second-round game at home in Maples Pavilion back in California. Iriafen finished with 41 points after Brink fouled out.
Brink, who is from the Portland area, has already announced that she's will make herself available for next month's WNBA draft, although she had one more season of college eligibility remaining.
"I feel like these four years, they say it goes by fast and you don't believe them, but it really does. I feel like a freshman. I feel like I'm still a kid at heart, and I'm sure Tara probably says that I still am," Brink said, turning to her coach. "I am going to miss being coached by you, even though I know you're going to be in my corner for the rest of my life."
The 70-year-old Vanderveer passed former Duke men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski for the wins record when she posted victory No. 1,203 in late January as the Cardinal defeated visiting Oregon State in a league game.
Against N.C. State, Stanford was physical at the start. Brink had six rebounds and three blocks in the first quarter alone, but the Cardinal held a narrow 12-11 lead.
Hannah Jump led all scorers with 10 points in the first half for Stanford. Iriafen played just seven minutes because of foul trouble but had eight points and seven rebounds, and the Cardinal ended the first half on a 9-2 run to lead 37-27.
Brink picked up her third foul with 5:35 left in the third quarter and went to the bench. Soon thereafter, N.C. State tied the game at 43 on Zoe Brooks' layup before James made back-to-back 3-pointers.
"Watching their game against Iowa State, we knew we could get their bigs in foul trouble," Rivers said. "And just when we saw we got them in foul trouble, it definitely gave us momentum."
Stanford was among five Pac-12 teams that advanced to this year's Sweet 16 — the most of any conference — as the league's days dwindle because of conference realignment. Oregon State and Washington State are the only school that will remain in the Pac-12 after this school year.
AP photo by Howard Lao / Texas forward Aaliyah Moore celebrates with teammates after the Longhorns beat Gonzaga in an NCAA tournament Sweet 16 game Friday in Portland, Ore.Texas 69, Gonzaga 47
Texas coach Vic Schaefer took a moment in the aftermath of one of the most dominant performances by his team this season to encapsulate what the Longhorns have accomplished.
Overlooked among the other No. 1 seeds in the tourney, they looked every bit the part of a title contender as they overwhelmed Gonzaga in the Sweet 16.
"It's amazing what this group has accomplished. They're remarkable young ladies. Unbelievable kids. They work their guts out every day. They pay the price to be where they are right now," Schaefer said. "I mean, these young ladies are going to be so good in the real world when they're done playing basketball.
"But I don't want their basketball to be done, because I love coaching them. Man, I had a ball tonight. Watching those kids play like that, are you kidding me?"
Aaliyah Moore had 16 points, 10 rebounds and six assists, Shaylee Gonzales added 15 points, and the Longhorns used a smothering defense to roll past Gonzaga.
Texas (33-4) won for the 15th time in 16 games and never made it easy for the Bulldogs (32-4), stymieing their typically high-scoring offense and flustering them into an awful night on that end of the court.
The size and physicality of Texas were too much for Gonzaga to handle, and the Longhorns' defense held the Bulldogs to just three made field goals and forced nine turnovers in a dominant first half.
Shay Holle's corner 3-pointer in the closing seconds of the period gave the Longhorns a 37-18 halftime lead, and Texas was on its way to its 11th Elite Eight appearance overall and second in three years. Texas has not reached the Final Four since making its third trip in 2003.
"We'll be the underdogs; people can underestimate us," Moore said. "We know the work we put in every day. We're the ones going to battle. No one else is in our practices, film sessions, anything that we do. I think because we know that we have the foundation, it's up to us to prove it every night. I think we're doing that right now."
Schaefer is in his fourth season at Texas. He led Mississippi State to back-to-back national runner-up finishes in 2017-18.
Holle added 12 points and Texas dominated despite a quiet night from Big 12 player of the year Madison Booker, who was slowed by foul trouble in the first half and finished with six points and eight rebounds in 25 minutes.
Yvonne Ejim led West Coast Conference regular-season champ Gonzaga with 14 points, but she picked up her first foul 30 seconds and eventually fouled out. Brynna Maxwell added 13 points, but the winningest season in school history finished with a whimper.
The Bulldogs shot just 26.5% and the 47 points were their fewest since last year's NCAA tournament first-round loss to Ole Miss, when the Zags managed just 48 points.
"Today wasn't our best day," coach Lisa Fortier said. " It wasn't an indicator of the season that we had."