Dawn Staley beats her old foe as South Carolina races to win

SAN ANTONIO – Details have changed in the competition, and the score remains unchanged, Dawn of Staley and South Carolina defeated Vic Schaefer again Tuesday night, as they beat sixth-seeded Texas 62-34 to reach the fourth final. Gamecocks held Texas goalless in the fourth quarter, the first time it had happened in an NCAA Women’s Championship. The Longhorns’ 34 points were also the lowest in the women’s regional rounds, one point lower than St. Bonaventure’s win against Notre Dame at the 2012 Sweet 16. The top-ranked Gamecocks will play Stanford on Friday night (6 pm ET). This will be South Carolina’s third trip to the Final Four – all since Staley took over. Gamecocks hit it in 2015 and 2017, when they won their first national title, and before they were hired in Texas last April, Schaefer spent eight years in Mississippi, and he and Staley fought some epic battles to dominate the Southeastern Congress. Staley has the best of most of them, including beating Schaefer’s Bulldogs for the SEC Championship title in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020, and in the biggest award ever, in the National Championship Game of 2017. “I think we’ve played 15 times,” said Staley. Who is now 13-3 against Schaefer, ahead of Tuesday’s match. “Any match we played was a close match for us,” Staley added. “This is why I look forward to it because I know what to expect.” So did Schaefer, and it just didn’t matter. South Carolina was simply too good, too experienced for Texas, which made their Elite Eight debut since 2016. The Gamecocks made a double-digit lead in the middle of the first quarter, ignoring any attempt by Texas to rise. Longhorns couldn’t manage a field goal in the fourth quarter, losing all 15 shots, and after Texas cut South Carolina’s lead to 24-17, Zia Cook ran seven points and Victoria Saxton scored in the layup, stealing the ball on target. Another end and made the layup again to run in the 13-2 round. Texas never got a double again, even Schaeffer’s trademark lockout defense couldn’t slow South Carolina, with Gamecocks shooting 57% in the first half. Meanwhile, South Carolina harassed the Longhorns with 14 of 61 shootings (23 percent) and 15 turns, and it had 14 blocks. Follow Nancy Armor on Twitter @nrarmour