The Guru National Report: South Carolina Rallies on No. 2 Stanford in Overtime to Stay on Top; UConn Routs N.C. State

By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

This time the shot went down for reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston, who was there at the near end shaking off foul trouble, while Bree Hall hit a key three-pointer with 42 seconds left in overtime and for the second straight year in a 1 vs 2 Dawn Staley’s NCAA champion South Carolina Gamecocks rallied over No. 2 Stanford for a 76-71 victory.

Two years ago Boston missed an inside shot as time expired and Stanford went on to win the national championship two days later over PAC-12 rival Arizona.

Last year in the regular season at home in Columbia the Gamecocks came back to down the Cardinal and on Sunday out West another rally carried them to prevail again.

In Sunday’s game, Boston’s shot near the end of the regulation sent the affair into an overtime and South Carolina (4-0) took it from there.

Stanford (5-1) earlier in the game had reached a double digit lead.

Boston finished with 14 points and for the moment, Hall of Fame Stanford coach Tara VanDerveer stays at 1,162 the record for total victories in Division I women’s basketball.

Earlier in the day, UConn coach Geno Auriemma, another Hall of Famer, moved within 10 at 1,152 as his No. 5 Huskies easily topped No. 10 N.C. State 91-66 in Hartford.

Stanford had a chance after a late score by the SEC school but with 3.4 seconds left in the overtime time was called, except the home team had none left and was hit with a technical.

Cameron Brink had 25 points for Stanford.

Both Staley and VanDerveer had white T-shirts noting in name and image Britney Griner, the WNBA star player who has been held by Russia since February, accused of an illegal drug possession.

The two national powers have met nine times and in each meeting the higher ranked team prevailed.

Boston with 13 rebounds in this one has had 16 straight double doubles against ranked foes. Teammate Zia Cooke had 13, all in the second half.

Stanford’s Kiki Iriafen had 11 points as did Haley Jones.

The Cardinal had won 14 straight at home heading into Sunday’s contest.

“In the huddle coach was like, ‘You gotta fight, you gotta fight,’” Boston related. “And that was our mentality.”

“There’s a lot we left out there on the court,” Jones said. “But also in the grand scheme of things, it’s November, it’s our first loss so I think there’sa lot left on the table.”

The game was on ABC, only the second in regular season on the women’s side.

Staley noted that, saying, “This is what women’s basketball is all about, and now is the time that the product we’re putting on the floor should be seen as many eyes as possible.”

The Gamecocks will visit Cal Poly on Tuesday while Stanford plays Florida Gulf Coast Friday in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown in Honolulu.

Fudd Keys UConn Victory: More trouble on top of a series of injuries seemed heading for the No. 5 UConn women’s huskies prior to their tip against No. 10 N.C. State in the XL Center in Hartford when longtime associate head coach Chris Dailey fainted after the national anthem.

The game was delayed 10 minutes but Dailey texted the team, according to the AP, during the game she was fine and her boss said the same thing about her condition following a 91-69 win over No. 10 N.C. State.

Azzi Fudd equaled her career high with 32 points as the Huskies moved to 3-0.

“We had 19 turnovers, nine assists,” said Wolfpack coach Wes Moore. That’s not team basketball. We got to figure that out.”

Fudd scored 32 in Monday’s win over Texas.

Lou Lopez Senechal had 20 points and Nikki Muhl broke a school record with 15 assists.  Aliyah Johnson had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

Diamond Johnson scored 14 for N.C. State (4-1).

Last spring UConn surprised by outlasting N.C. State an a double overtime Elite Eight game in Bridgeport.

Maryland Tops Baylor: A promising sign for the future occurred for Terps fans after they came away knowing that No. 19 Maryland handled No. 17 Baylor on the road 73-68 in Waco, Texas.

Maryland’s Diamond Miller had a career high 32, four more than her current mark of 28 and had 10 rebounds. Princeton transfer Abby Meyers had 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Coach Brenda Frese’s group bent but didn’t break.

The Terrapins are in the Fort Meyers Tip-Off in Florida this weekend playing DePaul Friday at 11 a.m., and the Towson and Pitt the next two games.

On Saturday, Drake likely knocked No. 22 Nebraska out of the poll, its win the second this week likely set the exit.