Grimes leads Houston to 76-56 victory over South Carolina
Maik Kotsar had 12 points and AJ Lawson had 10 for South Carolina, which has lost three of its past five games.
Maik Kotsar had 12 points and AJ Lawson had 10 for South Carolina, which has lost three of its past five games.
The program broke its 16-year postseason drought last season with a bid and made it to the second round before losing to regional host Minnesota. The Gamecocks are 5-8 all-time in the national tournament, advancing to the second round in five of eight trips.
The Gamecocks’ power forward, a four-year starter, has been the only constant through a stretch of three losses in four games, and with leading scorer AJ Lawson turnover-prone on Sunday, South Carolina needed him to be as productive.
The Gamecock victory was built on defense, though, as South Carolina returned to its lock-down effort on that end of the court. Washington State scored just nine points each in the first and third quarters on combined 25.0 percent shooting.
It’s the third time in four seasons the Gamecocks have finished in at least the NCAA quarterfinals. South Carolina will graduate five seniors in Grace Fisk, Mikayla Krzeczowski, Elexa Bahr, Tatumn Milazzo and Rebecca Koch.
South Carolina suffered a rare bad-shooting night, falling to Indiana 71-57 in the Paradise Jam. The Gamecocks led after the first quarter and dominated the third quarter, but foul trouble to key Gamecocks derailed the offense late in the loss.
In the final rivalry game of her career, Mikiah Herbert Harrigan narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds, including five on the offensive end, and added a pair of blocks as well.
Propelled by goals from Grace Fisk and Riley Tanner, the Gamecocks will host Washington State in the NCAA quarterfinals Nov. 29 at 6:00 p.m.
Charlton ranks fourth in the nation with a 48.0-yard average and leads all Division I punters with 25 punts of 50-plus yards. He has placed 27 punts inside the 20 with just five touchbacks.
The Gamecocks’ (4-0) defense was stifling early, allowing the Mountaineers (0-3) just three points in the opening quarter, while the Gamecock offense shot 63.6 percent in the period to put the game out of reach early.