ALBANY, N.Y. − South Carolina women’s basketball has marched through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, moving on to a Sweet 16 matchup with Indiana on Friday (5 p.m., ESPN) at MVP Arena.
The No. 1 Gamecocks (34-0) won their first two March Madness games by a combined 99 points to reach the Sweet 16 for the 10th-straight time.
The No. 4 seed Hoosiers (26-5) came back to defeat No. 5 Oklahoma in the second round of the NCAA Tournament, moving into their third Sweet 16 in four seasons.
MORE:Watch South Carolina women’s basketball vs. Indiana in March Madness Sweet 16 on Fubo (free trial)
Indiana is led by forward Mackenzie Holmes, who averages 20 points and 6.8 rebounds per game, and guard Sara Scalia, who averages 16.4 points and shoots 43% from beyond the arc.
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FINAL: South Carolina 79, Indiana 75
After a game-sealing block by Ashlyn Watkins on one of Indiana’s final possessions, South Carolina came out victorious. The Gamecocks escaped the comeback effort from the Hoosiers and move on to the Elite Eight. They’ll face No. 3 seed Oregon State on Sunday.
Kamilla Cardoso led all scorers with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Raven Johnson was second in scoring for South Carolina with 14 points, five rebounds and six assists.
South Carolina 77, Indiana 72 with 53 seconds left in the fourth quarter | Raven Johnson has the clutch gene
Raven Johnson didn’t hesitate at the arc, and she knocked down the biggest 3-pointer of the game. Mackenzie Holmes had just cut the lead to two points, and Johnson’s bucket made it a five-point game again. Johnson has scored 12 points on 5-for-7 shooting, including a perfect 3-for-3 from deep.
South Carolina 72, Indiana 65 with 2:51 left in the fourth quarter | Raven Johnson, Kamilla Cardoso with big buckets
South Carolina had only scored five points in the fourth quarter and Indiana was keeping the lead at five points. Raven Johnson drove and finished, and the next possession she assisted Kamilla Cardoso’s layup to keep the lead for the Gamecocks.
South Carolina 65, Indiana 60 with 6:36 left in the fourth quarter | Indiana cuts lead to five
Sydney Parrish led the charge in the second half as the Hoosiers stormed back into the game. Her 3-pointer with 7:20 left in the game cut South Carolina’s lead to 65-60. She scored 11 of her 16 points after halftime and went 3-for-4 from behind the arc.
Dawn Staley called timeout with 6:36 left after Indiana made it a five-point game and the Gamecocks turned the ball over on the previous possession.
End of the third quarter: South Carolina 65, Indiana 55
The Hoosiers continued to chip away at the lead as the officials started to get involved. The Gamecocks were called for four fouls in the final 2:24 of the quarter; Indiana was called for one in that time and only two the entire quarter. Indiana outscored South Carolina 23-16 in the third and went 4-for-9 from 3-point range.
South Carolina 61, Indiana 50 with 3:50 left in the third quarter | Indiana on a run after 22-point deficit
South Carolina held a lead of around 20 points for the first four minutes of the third quarter, the biggest a 22-point lead with 7:30 left in the quarter. Kamilla Cardoso made it a 21-point lead with 6:27 left in the third, bringing her total to 17 points.
But then Indiana went on a 10-0 run to cut the lead to 11 points. Hoosiers guard Sydney Parrish, who was teammates with Gamecocks guard Te-Hina Paopao at Oregon, led the way with eight points.
HALFTIME: South Carolina 49, Indiana 32
Some halftime stats from the Gamecocks’ strong start:
- South Carolina has scored 15 points off nine Indiana turnovers
- The Gamecocks had four scoring runs of at least 7-0
- Kamilla Cardoso scored a game-high 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting
- South Carolina is shooting 62.5% from 3-point range; Indiana is shooting 35.3%
- The Gamecocks are outscoring the Hoosiers 24-10 in the paint
South Carolina 34, Indiana 28 with 5:57 left in the second quarter | Indiana closing the gap
Indiana got hot from deep in the second quarter to start cutting the lead. The Hoosiers went 3-for-4 from 3-point range to open the second quarter, and Chloe Moore-McNeil’s 3-pointer made it a six-point game with just under six minutes left before halftime.
Indiana was much more efficient with its 3s in the second quarter after going 3-for-12 in the first quarter.
End of the first quarter: South Carolina 26, Indiana 15
South Carolina ended the first quarter on a 14-3 run. The Hoosiers only scored six more points after the media timeout, and the Gamecocks held them to 26.3% shooting. Eight players scored for South Carolina in the first quarter, led by Bree Hall’s six points.
South Carolina 26, Indiana 15 with 39.6 seconds left in the first quarter | Gamecocks on fire from deep
Bree Hall and Te-Hina Paopao started off the game with 3-pointers on the first two possessions. Then Hall hit another one and Raven Johnson got in on the fun a couple possessions later. Then who else but MiLaysia Fulwiley to keep it going? The freshman knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 26-15 and force Indiana into a timeout.
South Carolina is 5-for-7 from 3-point range in the first quarter.
South Carolina 10, Indiana 9 with 4:38 left in the first quarter | Close start for Gamecocks
South Carolina was rolling to start, jumping out to 10-2 lead in the first two minutes. Then Indiana responded, going on a 7-0 run to cut the lead to 10-9 at the first media timeout with 4:38 left in the first quarter.
Kamilla Cardoso leads all scorers with four points on 2-for-3 shooting.
What channel is South Carolina women’s basketball vs. Indiana in NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 today?
- TV channel: ESPN
- Streaming: Fubo TV (free trial)
South Carolina women’s basketball vs. Indiana start time
- DATE: Friday, March 29
- TIPOFF: 5 p.m. ET
- VENUE: MVP Arena (Albany, New York)
South Carolina women’s basketball live score updates vs. Indiana
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