NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2023: Elite 8 Scores, Final Four Bracket | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors | Bleacher Report
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NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament 2023: Elite 8 Scores, Final Four Bracket

Francisco RosaMarch 28, 2023

GREENVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 27: Aliyah Boston #4 of the South Carolina Gamecocks celebrates with teammates during the third quarter of the game against the Maryland Terrapins in the Elite Eight round of the NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament at Bon Secours Wellness Arena on March 27, 2023 in Greenville, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

South Carolina continued one of the most dominant seasons in college basketball history as the Gamecocks punched their ticket to their third consecutive Final Four and improved to 36-0 with a 86-75 win over No. 2 seed Maryland in the Elite Eight.

They were powered to the win by yet another masterclass from Aliyah Boston, who dropped 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Gamecocks are set to face off against No. 2 seed Iowa and Caitlin Clark in Dallas at the American Airlines Center.

Clark is coming off the performance of the season after dropping the tournament's first-ever 41-point triple-double against Louisville on Sunday night.

Here are the rest of the results from the Elite Eight and a recap of Monday night's games.

Elite Eight Scores

No. 2 Iowa 97, No. 5 Louisville 83

No. 3 LSU 54, No. 9 Miami 42

No. 1 South Carolina 86, No. 2 Maryland 75

No. 1 Virginia Tech 84, No. 3 Ohio State 74


Bracket

The full bracket for the 2021 women's NCAA tournament can be viewed at NCAA.com

South Carolina 86, Maryland 75

After a pedestrian first quarter that saw the Gamecocks trailing by six after the opening 10 minutes, South Carolina turned it up on both ends in the second as they outscored the Terrapins 23-9 and took a 38-30 lead into halftime.

From there on out, the Gamecocks never looked back and dominated the rest of the way in Greenville.

Gaming Society @GamingSociety

South Carolina in the second quarter <a href="https://t.co/eJtfCxZxmv">pic.twitter.com/eJtfCxZxmv</a>

ESPN Women's Hoops @ESPN_WomenHoop

South Carolina leads Maryland 38-30 at halftime.<br><br>Zia Cooke scored all nine of her points in the second quarter, matching the Terps' total in the period. <br><br>It's just the third time Maryland has been held to less than 10 points in a quarter this season.

Chandler Mack @chandlerdmack

As it has done all season, South Carolina outscored an opponent after trailing in the first quarter. <br><br>Gamecocks won the second 23-9 and take a 38-30 lead into the locker room. <br><br>The All Americans Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston are leading the way with a combined 21 points. <a href="https://twitter.com/WLTX?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@WLTX</a>…

Whenever Maryland would try to make a run, the reigning champs had a response by turning up the defensive pressure and keeping the Terrapins at bay.

Midway through the third quarter, Maryland managed to cut the deficit to 48-42, but that would be the closest they'd get the rest of the game as the Gamecocks went on a 14-5 run over the next few minutes to effectively put the game out of reach.

Shea Serrano @SheaSerrano

there's always a Put The Kids To Bed moment in south carolina games where they decide it's time to grab control of the court — it's wild — you know it's coming and there's absolutely nothing your team can do about it except wait for SC to turn the lights off

Despite the double-digit win, there was a fair amount of criticism of the officiating throughout the game as there was quite a disparity in the number of fouls being called on Maryland.

South Carolina ended up shooting 26 free throws compared to just 15 for Maryland. There were also 26 fouls called on the Terrapins and only 12 on Dawn Staley's team.

While the majority of fans agreed that the right team won the game, there was still some disappointment with the way the game was officiated.

diamond's frustration foul @umdwbbfan

Listen I not mad at South Carolina, it's the refs that are killing me. I want whoever wins this game to take it all the way, but I also want a fair game.

Andrew Emmer @AndrewEmmer

As a rule I don't complain about officiating, and South Carolina was almost certainly going to to beat Maryland if everything was exactly equal…<br><br>BUT<br><br>the overall state of officiating is abysmal in the men's and women's games and it's a huge, fixable problem.

David Davis @DavidKDavisJr

Here I said it, when teams are leading on South Carolina.. the refs get whistle happy and give them every call 🥴. South Carolina constantly fouls but the calls are missed. It's frustrating to watch.

🔥 Kevin Warren's Burner 🔥 (Parody) @Big_Supremacy_

Officials hand the game to South Carolina. <br><br>Maryland called for five consecutive fouls in 90 seconds.<br><br>Worst officiating I've seen at the college level.

The Gamecocks have been the wire-to-wire best team in the country all season long, their 42-game winning streak is the seventh-longest in Division I history. But although they managed to overcome a top-10 scoring offense in Maryland on Monday, they'll have a totally different challenge against Clark and Iowa.

The Hawkeyes lead the nation in points per game at 87.6 and Clark has been an offense all to herself throughout the tournament, carrying the program to their first Final Four in 30 years.

It also sets up a matchup between the country's best offense and the top defense as South Carolina has allowed just 50.4 points per game this season.


Virginia Tech 84, Ohio State 74

History was made Monday night as Virginia Tech punched a ticket to the Final Four for the first time ever. The Hokies continued their dream season as they outlasted the Buckeyes thanks to an electric second-half performance.

The opening 20 minutes was quite the back-and-forth affair as Virginia Tech took a 48-45 lead into the locker room, but the team's starting five took over in the final two quarters to end Ohio State's dream of going to the Final Four for the first time in 30 years.

Four of the Hokies' five starters finished in double-digits headlined by Elizabeth Kitley and Georgia Amoore, who finished with 25 and 24 points, respectively. Kitley also had 12 rebounds for a double-double, her 22nd of the season.

espnW @espnW

Liz Kitley goin' to work 💪😤 <a href="https://t.co/EaVClbC7Kr">pic.twitter.com/EaVClbC7Kr</a>

NCAA March Madness @MarchMadnessWBB

You think <a href="https://twitter.com/CoachBrooksVT?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CoachBrooksVT</a> liked that shot from <a href="https://twitter.com/georgia_amoore?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@georgia_amoore</a> or nah?<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/MarchMadness?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#MarchMadness</a> x <a href="https://twitter.com/HokiesWBB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HokiesWBB</a> <a href="https://t.co/Gw9bJZYohB">pic.twitter.com/Gw9bJZYohB</a>

The Hokies outscored the Buckeyes 36-29 in the second half and led by double-digits for the majority of the fourth quarter as they danced their way to history and a date with LSU and Angel Reese in the national semifinals Friday in Dallas.