Baylor advances in dominant fashion over 4-seed South Carolina, 93-68
GREENSBORO, N.C. — Baylor continued their dominant run through the NCAA tournament as the Lady bears dismantled No. 4-seed South Carolina 93-68 in the Sweet 16 on Saturday afternoon. The 25-point victory in the third round of the tournament came after 57-point and 39-point victories in the first two rounds.
The Lady Bears jumped out 24-11 lead after the first period and never trailed as they extended their lead out to 49-23 at halftime. The second half started with a few miscues, however, and the Lady Bears were outscored 29-23 in the third period as USC cut a 30-point Baylor lead to to 16 at the 2:31 mark.
Baylor regained composure in the final moments and pushed their lead back out to 20 with the final quarter to play to go.
All five of Baylor’s starters reached double figures in the contest. Leading the way for Baylor was guard DiDi Richards who scored a career high 25 points while grabbing 6 rebounds and dishing out 4 assists. Richards finished the game 11 of 13 from the field.
Center Kalani Brown and forward Lauren Cox each recorded a double-double. Brown scored 18 points and secured 10 rebounds. Cox, who played one of the most complete games of her career, scored 17 points and collected 14 rebounds. Cox, who connected on 8-of-10 free throw attempts, also recorded 6 assists, 5 blocks and 1 steal.
Juicy Landrum and Chloe Jackson each scored 12 points and combined for 10 rebounds and 7 assists.
The Lady Bears shot 52.1% from the field and dominated the boards with a 54-30 advantage.
Baylor moves on to face No. 2-seed Iowa in the Elite Eight on Monday evening.