BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – With an Elite Eight victory over Duke, South Carolina seniors Sania Feagin and Bree Hall have now made it to four straight Final Fours during their time as Gamecocks.

When asked if they thought their careers would “come out this way” when they signed with Dawn Staley four years ago, Feagin had a very simple answer.

“Yes, I did.”

Hall had a different perspective about being a part of the historic South Carolina era.

“I really can’t believe it,” Hall said. “When I committed here, I didn’t really expect it to be this good. This is definitely an experience that people dream about, and I’m just really glad I made the right choice.”

Playing alongside Feagin and Hall throughout the dominant run is Raven Johnson, a junior guard who redshirted as a freshman. Feagin and Hall have one year of eligibility left and have not yet announced if they plan to stay at South Carolina.

But that’s a decision for another day. The Gamecocks are focused on the Final Four next weekend and extending their run.

“We’re not done,” Johnson said. “We can set history winning a national championship, and that’s the plan. We all know what it takes, and we know it’s not gonna be easy.”

She already knows the path ahead will be a challenge because getting this far was one.

South Carolina’s Dawn Staley and Duke’s Kara Lawson have swag

South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley has swag. So does Duke’s Kara Lawson. We asked USC and Duke players who has the most. What they said

USA TODAY

No. 1 seed South Carolina survived No. 2 Duke 54-50, scoring a season-low paired with 16 turnovers. The matchup had four lead changes and four ties. Feagin and Hall each had three key rebounds in the fourth quarter. 

“The margin of error is very little,” said Johnson, adding that a missed shot can turn “the momentum of the game” to the other team.

This is now the third-straight nailbiter the Gamecocks have endured. They trailed at halftime in matchups against No. 9 Indiana in the second round and No. 4 Maryland in the Sweet 16. 

Prior to Sunday’s game, the Gamecocks had won 33 games with a 22.9-point margin of victory, so it’s safe to say they are usually comfortable on the court.

“I don’t know why everybody expects us to just blow everybody out,” Hall said. “These teams are coming to play. It’s not gonna be easy, every team is gonna be ready for us.”

The trio is ready to bring its experience to a familiar setting – the Final Four – and live up to its own expectation: winning.

Olivia Noni is a student in the University of Georgia’s  Sports Media Certificate program.

South Carolina women’s basketball is headed back to the Final Four for the fifth season in a row. On Sunday, the Gamecocks squeaked by a tough Duke Blue Devils squad 54-50 in the Elite Eight, ending their time in Birmingham. With 20 wins in their last 21 NCAA Tournament contests, USC was the first team to clinch tickets to Tampa.

South Carolina put three players on the Birmingham All-Regional Team.

Be in the know about all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer!

Junior forward Chloe Kitts won the Regional MVP. In the Gamecocks’ two games in Alabama, she averaged 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds. She was the team’s overall leading scorer and rebounder in the two games.

Senior forward Sania Feagin joined Kitts on the All-Regional Team. She averaged 10.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.0 blocks, 2.0 assists, and 1.5 steals while shooting over 50% from the field.

The third Gamecock to make the All-Regional squad was sophomore guard MiLaysia Fulwiley. Fulwiley poured in 14 points per game to go with 3.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists. She led the team in scoring against Maryland and had important solo scoring and playmaking bursts in both games when the South Carolina offense got stagnant.

Joining Kitts, Feagin, and Fulwiley on the team were Duke freshman forward Toby Fournier and Duke junior guard Ashlon Jackson.

GamecockCentral’s Chris Wellbaum’s ballot was identical, but he had Feagin bringing home MVP honors. GamecockCentral’s Mingo Martin’s voting looked a little different with Fulwiley and Fournier joined by USC’s Te-Hina Paopao, Duke’s Jadyn Donovan, and Maryland’s Kaylene Smikle (Fulwiley was his MVP).

Get USC Gamecocks app notifications

With the triumph in Birmingham, South Carolina will play in its seventh Final Four, all coming since the 2014-2015 season. The Gamecocks have made it to the Final Four five seasons in a row, and that likely would have been six in a row had the 2019-2020 season not been cut short due to Covid.

Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks will take the floor again on Friday, April 4th in Tampa, Florida against the Monday night winner of the Elite Eight showdown between the Texas Longhorns and TCU Horned Frogs. Tip time and final television and streaming information remain unknown, though ESPN or ESPN2 will handle the broadcast.

Duke Blue Devils (29-7, 18-4 ACC) vs. South Carolina Gamecocks (33-3, 18-1 SEC)

Birmingham, Alabama; Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT

BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Gamecocks -8.5; over/under is 128.5

BOTTOM LINE: No. 2 South Carolina and No. 7 Duke square off in the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight.

Advertisement

The Gamecocks have gone 18-1 against SEC teams, with a 15-2 record in non-conference play. South Carolina is 30-3 against opponents over .500.

The Blue Devils’ record in ACC action is 18-4. Duke is second in the ACC with 12.4 offensive rebounds per game led by Oluchi Okananwa averaging 2.4.

South Carolina makes 46.8% of its shots from the field this season, which is 8.2 percentage points higher than Duke has allowed to its opponents (38.6%). Duke averages 6.1 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.9 more makes per game than South Carolina allows.

The teams meet for the second time this season. South Carolina won 81-70 in the last matchup on Dec. 6. Chloe Kitts led South Carolina with 21 points, and Delaney Thomas led Duke with 14 points.

Advertisement

TOP PERFORMERS: Joyce Edwards is shooting 54.6% and averaging 13.0 points for the Gamecocks. MiLaysia Fulwiley is averaging 13.8 points over the last 10 games.

Ashlon Jackson is shooting 37.6% from beyond the arc with 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Blue Devils, while averaging 12.4 points. Okananwa is averaging 12 points and 6.1 rebounds over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Gamecocks: 10-0, averaging 81.4 points, 38.7 rebounds, 17.5 assists, 8.5 steals and 6.2 blocks per game while shooting 48.0% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 58.5 points per game.

Blue Devils: 9-1, averaging 67.1 points, 35.2 rebounds, 14.8 assists, 8.4 steals and 3.6 blocks per game while shooting 41.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 51.1 points.

___

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.