South Carolina wins big in the Final Four against Louisville to advance to the Title Game

• In their Final Four matchup the South Carolina Gamecocks defeated the Louisville Cardinals 72 to59.
• The country’s top team led the way throughout the second period to advance to the national championship.
• National Player of The Year Aliyah Massachusetts led the effort with an impressive 23 points and 18 rebounds.

MINNEAPOLIS — The South Carolina Gamecocks are just one win away from a national championship.

Dawn Staley’s wire–to-wire No. In the first of two Final Four matchups at Minneapolis Target Center, Friday evening, the Louisville Cardinals lost 72-59 to the 1st team in the country.

South Carolina superstar Aliyah Boston — who earned consensus National Player of the Year honors — recorded a game-high 23 points and 18 rebounds to notch her 29th double-double on the season and lead her Gamecocks on to the title game.

The Cardinals held a slight lead in the second quarter but Louisville was unable to hold it. The Gamecocks pulled away with a second-half surge. South Carolina’s six points halftime lead was extended to double digits by Zia Cooke, the junior guard. She scored five points unanswered on a quick three pointer and a steal that turned into a layup on the next floor.

After Cooke’s heroics in the first half, the Gamecocks never trailed by less than six points. Although the Cardinals put together an 8-1 run towards the end of the third quarter, Boston held them back with a big lay-in through contact with just four seconds remaining.

To complete the three-point play, she made the free throw and South Carolina was up nine at quarter’s end.

Despite serious offensive struggles to start the contest — including a handful of layup attempts that missed the rim entirely — the Cardinals managed to climb back from their early nine-point deficit, thanks to a stellar stretch from forward Emily Engstler. New York’s native was held scoreless for the first five minutes, but she managed to pull in 10 points and seven boards in the second half to keep Louisville in check and lead all scorers.

The senior transfer led the Cardinals with 18 points and nine rebounds when the final buzzer sounded — even though she fouled out with 4:56 remaining in the contest.

Hailey Van Lith — the star guard who has been on an offensive tear for Louisville throughout the team’s run to the Final Four — went 1-of-4 from the floor through the first two quarters and finished the game with six points in 40 minutes on the floor.

The Gamecocks will face the winner in Friday’s second national semifinal, which will be held between the No. 1 Stanford Cardinal, No. 2 UConn Huskies. South Carolina will be aiming for the second national title ever Sunday at 7:05 p.m. ET on ESPN.