PHOENIX — When Raven Johnson went to the bench with 8:30 to play in the second quarter after picking up her second foul while tightly guarding UConn’s Azzi Fudd, there was a sense of frustration and despair among the South Carolina fans sitting in the Mortgage Matchup Center Friday, April 3 at the Final Four.
Former Gamecocks forward Aaliyah Boston rose from her courtside seat – where she was watching the game with rapper Flavor Flav – to yell at the referees. South Carolina was about to have to endure a long stretch against the undefeated Huskies, the top overall seed in the women’s NCAA Tournament, without their starting point guard and emotional leader.
And indeed, the Gamecocks got through it. They trailed UConn by just two points at halftime, and then started the third quarter on a 16-4 run to take a 10-point lead – which was at that point the largest deficit the Huskies had faced all season.
Johnson returned to the game and provided a steady hand and stellar defense in the second half as one Goliath defeated another with South Carolina taking a 62-48 win over UConn, snapping the Huskies’ 54-game win streak, ending their undefeated season and sending Geno Auriemma into a postgame tailspin.
“It started on the defensive end. We had to get stops,” South Carolina guard Ta’Niya Latson said. “We knew Raven wasn’t out there. She couldn’t really run the show, but we had to have her back. I think we just stayed closer during those times. We stayed together and we fought until Raven got back.”
Latson was a big reason why the Gamecocks were able to pull off the on-paper upset of the Huskies. The senior guard grabbed a career-high-tying 11 rebounds – marking just the fourth time in her collegiate tenure that she’s grabbed double-digit boards – and also scored 16 points, leading South Carolina in both scoring and rebounding.
The 5-foot-8 transfer from Florida State said earlier this week that she was “a little starstruck” to be playing in her first Final Four, but she thrived under the bright lights when South Carolina needed her most.
“I knew I had to impact the game in any way I could. I wanted this win. Whether that was rebounding, scoring, assisting, I was going to do what I had to do,” Latson said. “The balls were coming my way, so I had to grab ’em and snag ’em.”
South Carolina exposed one of UConn’s few weak spots by crashing the glass. The Huskies ranked 136th nationally in total rebounds per game this season, while the Gamecocks entered this game ranking in the top 15 of seven different rebounding statistics this year.
The Gamecocks won the rebounding battle 47-32, grabbed 14 offensive boards and flipped them into nine second-chance points and hammered UConn inside, outscoring the Huskies 34-20 in the paint. UConn also shot a season-worst 31.1% from the floor.
“That was the emphasis for our bigs, we had to crash the boards,” said South Carolina freshman Agot Makeer, who finished with 14 points. “Ta’Niya wanted to join the party, too. That was cool. She’s always going to impact the game. She’s a winner. So she can get it done.”
Latson kept hearing Staley’s halftime message in her head: “Meet the moment.”
As the game unfolded in the second half, and as moments kept coming Latson’s way, she continued to meet them head-on. She shot a perfect 10-of-10 from the free throw line and also came up with a crucial steal after Johnson left the game in the second quarter that led to an easy fast-break layup to ease some of the anxiety the Gamecocks’ fans were feeling.
When the game was in hand with 30.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, Boston rose from her seat again, raised her fist and let out a declarative “Hell yeah!”
On Sunday, the Gamecocks will face UCLA and try to win their fourth national championship in program history. Staley won’t be concerned about whether Latson will be capable of meeting the moment.
“You see players, they just have a different look. When they have it, it gives you confidence to know that they’re ready. Like, you know some players that you got question marks about whether they’re ready. I didn’t have any of that with Ta’Niya,” Staley said. “I think that Ta’Niya just made huge sacrifices, individual sacrifices. She wasn’t an All-American this year. I want her – if she’s not going to get the individual awards – to be part of a national championship team.”
Latson had all those accolades at Florida State. She was the National Freshman of the Year, a three-time All-ACC selection, an All-American and the nation’s leading scorer. But she never advanced to the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament with the Seminoles.
Now, she has one game left in her college career, and one last chance to win it all.