The Guru Report: South Carolina and Va. Tech Complete Final Four

 By Mel Greenberg @womhoopsguru

For all the upsets and the way the season went the past five months, the NCAA Women’s Final Four at the American Airlines Arena this weekend will be a high quality reflection of all that after Dawn Staley’s overall top seed and reigning champion South Carolina bunch beat second-seed and seventh ranked Maryland 86-75 for the Greenville Regional 1 title in Bon Secours Wellness Arena Monday night before top-seed and fourth-ranked Virginia Tech earned a first-ever finals ticket by beating third seed and 12^th-ranked Ohio State 84-74 for the Seattle Regional 3 crown at Climate Pledge Arena.

 

“This is the hardest game to win,” Staley said of the gateway Elite Eight level contest that her Gamecocks’ have now won in three consecutive tournaments.

 

Just one night earlier, Iowa featuring high-scoring Caitlin Clark eliminated Louisville to snap a three-decade appearance drought that began after 1993 regional.

 

And LSU, a program that hadn’t been there in quite a while, got there under a second-year coach who had in Kim Mulkey, the Hall of Famer, as is Staley, who previously guided Baylor to three national titles in four finals opportunities.

 

She also made it as participating player winning the inaugural title in 1982 when Louisiana Tech beat Cheyney, the first of three different schools reaching the Women’s Final Four coached by CC. Vivian Stringer, who also led the ’93 Iowa group and twice in 2000 and 2007 with Rutgers.  

 

Mulkey was already conceding the national title to Southeastern Conference rival South Carolina, but added she wouldn’t mind being in the championship game with the unbeaten Gamecocks (36-0), who are now on a 42-game win streak and went wire-to-wire as No. 1 in the AP Poll.

 

While Mulkey has done a quick rebuild in two years with LSU (32-2) with help from the transfer portal, Kenny Brooks built Virginia Tech (31-4) into a power in seven after moving down the interstate from a long run at James Madison.

 

The Hokies, who eliminated Tennessee in the region semifinals, topped the Buckeyes (28-8) for their 15^thstraight, including the Atlantic Coast Conference crown, also a first.

 

Virginia Tech shrugged off the Ohio State press that ended UConn’s 14-season streak of finals appearances as Elizabeth Kitley scored 25 points and grabbed 12 rebounds while Australian guard Georgia Amoore scored 24.

 

“We’re not just going to the Final Four,” Brooks said. “We’re in the Final Four. That’s something that means the world to me.”

 

“I don’t know if you envision it more than you dream it. Obviously, this is not easy and one day I will sit back and realize how hard it was for us to get here and realize we are one of four teams standing.”

 

Cayla King, also in double figures, got all of her 12 points in the first half for the winners.

 

“This group, we all came from different places, but this year we came together because we all wanted the same thing,” Kitley said. “It’s so nice to be at this spot but we know that we don’t want to be done either yet because we have so much fun playing together.”

 

Maryland transfer Taylor Mikesell had 19 of her 25 points in the first half before the Hokies tightened the defense while Jacy Sheldon collected 19 points and Cotie McMahon, the Big Ten freshman of the year at Ohio State, scored 18.

 

Buckeyes coach Kevin McGuff said he limited use of the press because “we didn’t quite have the same energy” as the attack that forced UConn into 25 turnovers.

 

Earlier Monday, Aliyah Boston, the reigning national player of the year, had 22 points and 10 rebounds in South Carolina’s win.

 

The Gamecocks, seeking to be the 10^th unbeaten women’s squad, will face Iowa Friday night in the second game after LSU and Virginia Tech meet.

 

Staley brushed aside the coming match with Iowa, anticipated with Boston and Clark in the same game, for the moment.

 

“I just want to enjoy this and just give our players an opportunity to be talked about,” she said. “The joy that I feel for this team to be able to be where they are, I’m just really happy.”

 

Zia Cooke had 18 points and Brea Beal scored 16 adding to the work by Boston, voted the most outstanding player of the Greenville 1 Regional.

 

Though Maryland (28-7) had a 21-15 lead early, the Gamecocks struck back in the second quarter 23-9.

 

“I thought the game was lost in the second quarter,” said Terrapins coach Brenda Frese. “Their size, their depth, they wear you out.

 

Maryland’s Diamond Miller scored 24 points in a game in which the opposition owned the boards 48-26, 25-7 on the offensive glass.

 

LSU’s Mulkey, UConn’s Geno Auriemma, and Stanford’s Tara VanDerveer, are now joined by Staley in the active list of coaches with five or more Final Four appearances.

 

WNIT Finals Set

 

Columbia (27-5) will leave Levien Gym off Broadway in New York City for the first time in the WNIT on Wednesday, traveling to Bowling Green (31-6) at 6 p.m. on ESPN3.

 

Bowling Green completed the national semifinals field Monday night beating Florida 69-52 as Amy Velasco scored 18 points, Elissa Brett Scored 16, Allison Day scored 12, and Jocelyn Tate grabbed 12 rebounds.

 

Leilani Correra off the bench scored 20 for the Gators (19-15).

 

Washington (19-14) will be at Kansas (23-11) Wednesday in Lawrence for the other semifinal at 7:30 p.m. on the Big 12 on ESPN network.

 

This is the furthest any Ivy has ever advanced in the tournament.

 

The championship will be Saturday 5:30 p.m. on the CBS Sports Network.

 

And that’s the report