Dawn Staley: “I don’t want our season to end any other way than winning the National Championship.”

The South Carolina Gamecocks showed the country just how good they are in the second half of their Final Four matchup against the NC State Wolfpack.

After a low-scoring first half, the Gamecocks outscored their opponents 29-6 in the third quarter alone and were clearly running away with the game.

 South Carolina dominated in its 78-59 win over NC State in the Final Four.

After four quarters, the Gamecocks were heading to the National Championship game once again.

“I’m just proud of our team,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “To be able to play on this big stage and not play our best basketball in the first half and come back out and make some small adjustment and meet the moment to make it to Sunday.”

Kamilla Cardoso and Raven Johnson both went down with apparent leg injuries throughout the Final Four matchup.

Cardoso was able to return to game play with an additional leg sleeve on but Johnson did not return in the final minutes of the fourth quarter.

“She’s a beautiful Brazilian warrior,” Te-Hina Paopao said. “Knowing that we’ve got one more game, she’s definitely going to be okay.”

Cardoso had 22 points and 11 rebounds to lead the team in scoring and put on a truly magical performance in South Carolina’s victory.

“You play to your strengths, Kamilla is a strength of ours,” Staley said. “I don’t want our season to end any other way than how I envisioned it and that’s winning the National Championship.”

Ashlyn Watkins set the NCAA Division I record for rebounds by a player coming off of the bench with 20 boards. She also had 8 points and 1 assist for the Gamecocks.

“That wasn’t really a goal of mine,” Watkins said. “I just went out there and played my best basketball… I could tell by our faces, I could tell by our voices that we wanted it more.”

South Carolina held NC State to just 28 points in the second half and a minimal 5 assists throughout the entire game.

The Gamecocks will face the winner of the Iowa and UConn Final Four matchup in the title game on April 7.