How South Carolina got through 'the hard part' to beat TCU and book a trip back to the Final Four

SACRAMENTO – South Carolina earned a ticket to its sixth consecutive Final Four with a 78-52 victory over TCU on Monday night. That marks the second-longest streak in NCAA Tournament history behind UConn's 14 straight appearances from 2008–2022.

The Gamecocks will be facing the Huskies in Phoenix in a rematch of last year's championship game, which South Carolina lost 82-59. A lot of preparation needs to be done for such a high-stakes game, but the game itself? Dawn Staley and her staff consider that the easy part.

"(The hard part) is what you have to do to prepare players who are going through whatever they go through, because they go through things," Staley said. "They go through not doing so well in a classroom. They go through breaking up with their significant others. They go through just mental exhaustion just for having to deal with their young lives. 

"So that's the hard part. Don't criticize us on game day. That's the easiest part. People that don't see what actually happens to get a team and a program up for the challenges of a season and get to the Final Four."

That said, game day hasn't been easy either. Even Monday's final score doesn't reflect the fact that TCU threw the first punch and gave South Carolina its first deficit of this NCAA Tournament. But that wasn't enough to stop the Gamecocks, who finished strong and earned another date with UConn on the big stage.

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Lindsay Gibbs

A team huddle ignited fourth-quarter spark

South Carolina missed its first five shots and didn't score until Raven Johnson hit a jumper three and a half minutes into the game. The Gamecocks got their first lead with six seconds remaining in that first period, but the Horned Frogs hung around until South Carolina turned up the intensity in the fourth quarter. 

TCU was only down by eight points at the end of the third quarter, but South Carolina's Ta'Niya Latson had resounding optimism for her team.

"Ta'Niya literally said that in the huddle: 'Before we got to the five-minute mark in the fourth quarter, we will be up by 20,'" Joyce Edwards said postgame. "And that's what we did. I feel like our defense got more intense. And defense turned into offense, and we were able to get some transition buckets. And it just went up from there."

TCU coach Mark Campbell said mistakes, including giving up rebounds, certainly hurt his team's chances, but also pointed out that the Horned Frogs didn't change anything schematically in the fourth quarter.

"Your margin for error against South Carolina, UConn, Texas, UCLA is almost zero," he said. "Our kids fought and battled. It was an eight-point game heading into the fourth quarter. And with this level -- the South Carolinas of the world -- a bad shot, a turnover, a missed blockout, it just escalates rapidly."

By the end of the night, South Carolina was able to force an unproductive night from TCU star Olivia Miles, who had been one of the most electric players in the tournament. She still scored 18 points, but freshman Makeer Agot did a solid job making her fight for every basket and shoot just 6 of 20 from the field. 

"I feel like my mindset changed. Starting in the SEC Tournament, I just started approaching games differently," Agot said after the game. "And I feel like it wasn't just one-dimensional thinking. I just wanted to go and do whatever I can to get the team to win. So just in this tournament, I've just thought whatever I can do to get this team a win is what I need to do."

Raven Johnson set the tone before the game

When it comes to mindset and getting through the hard parts, Raven Johnson is a story of success. She gave the Gamecocks 10 points, eight rebounds, six assists and one steal against TCU. But her impact on the team in this NCAA Tournament run shows up in more than just the boxscore.

When Edwards was starting to complain about the rims during shootaround, Staley overheard Johnson telling her that the team should only focus on positive thoughts. Never mind the fact that Edwards is South Carolina's leading scorer -- and the fact that she scored a game-high 24 points against TCU. Johnson's leadership is what Staley highlighted when explaining how South Carolina has become a regular at the Final Four. 

"There's one player on our team that experienced a Final Four every year of her college career, and that's Raven Johnson," Staley said. "And the think pieces on her for five years are quite incredible. But at the end of the day, Raven's a winner. And now people are seeing the type of player that she is, that she was capable of being."

Johnson has played for Staley her entire college career. It has been a roller coaster ride that started with only playing two games during her freshman year because of a torn ACL. In the 2023 Final Four, Johnson lost confidence in herself after Caitlin Clark waved her off at the 3-point line. She found it again the following season and shut down Clark on the way to the Gamecocks 2024 national title. Her stats dipped last season, but they are back up in her senior year. 

Despite the ups and downs, Staley said Johnson is the player on her roster who brings her the most calm during chaotic moments.

"Believe it or not, it's Raven," Staley said over the weekend. "It's Raven. To actually see Raven operate when she doesn't even know people are listening to her… She only wants to hear things that will help us win basketball games, which is really, I would say, uncharacteristic of her because she allowed other people to do that in previous years, but she's taken on the rein of making sure -- she's asking the hard questions: 'Are you ready?' If you tell her, yes, she'll say, 'well, it didn't look like it.'

"That is really the most beautiful thing that you can overhear a player asking one of her peers. And you know your locker room is good when your leaders are leading out loud and in real time."

Next up

Every No. 1 seed is back in the Final Four as UConn, UCLA, Texas and South Carolina return to the last weekend of the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive year. South Carolina is set to face UConn on Friday at 7 p.m. ET. Meanwhile, UCLA has a rematch against Texas -- the Bruins' only loss of the season --  at 9:30 p.m. ET.