South Carolina's biggest strength is its ability to steal opponents' souls
ALBANY, N.Y. — South Carolina can suck the oxygen out of a room and the hope from an opponent’s heart.
With a roster so deep you can barely see the end of it, South Carolina is never truly in trouble. Oh, an opponent might think so, staying within striking distance and feeling as if they can overtake the Gamecocks with another bucket or two.
Little do they know South Carolina is just biding its time. Until BOOM! The Gamecocks take off on a run and their opponent is left wondering what the heck just happened and checking for tread marks on their back.
Take Sunday’s game against Oregon State, which South Carolina won 70-58 to advance to the Final Four for a fourth consecutive season. The Gamecocks, the overall No. 1 seed in the tournament, will face N.C. State next Friday in Cleveland.
Despite being deep in foul trouble and getting beaten on the boards, the Beavers got to within two, 43-41, on a layup by Raegan Beers with 6:08 left in the third quarter. Two possessions later, Te-Hina Paopao missed a 3-pointer.
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And that’s when it happened.
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Raven Johnson snagged the rebound and drilled a 3. Ninety seconds later, she fed Tessa Johnson for a 3. South Carolina harassed Oregon State into a bad shot on the other end and got the rebound, and Johnson scored on a driving layup.
Another forced turnover led to Sania Feagin’s driving layup. After an Oregon State miss, South Carolina kept its possession alive with not one, not two but three offensive rebounds before Feagin finally scored on a putback.
South Carolina’s lead was now at 14. It had taken all of about 3 minutes.
"Raven hit (a 3) first, and me and Pao were saying she opened up the basket for us," Johnson said. "I remember she passed it to me and I just let it go, and then it brought momentum to the team."
The Gamecocks are not invincible, despite what their unbeaten record suggests. They got tested by both Indiana and Oregon State.
But they’re smart and they’re opportunistic, and their ability to work themselves out of a jam should not be underestimated.
"For this particular year, we've responded, and it's produced wins," Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley said. "It's not always like that. But with this particular team ... it is them being able to lock in and execute what we need them to execute, and when it's not executed perfectly, they figure out a way on their own to make some plays.
"Because a lot of times when you're making those runs, it isn't a coach saying, `This, this, this.' It is players making plays. It's them giving an extra effort."
South Carolina's improved 3-point shooting also helps when it needs to deliver the dagger.
The Gamecocks are shooting a little over 39% from 3-point range this season. Which is significantly better than the 30% they shot last year. It should be no surprise that, when South Carolina makes one of its soul-sucking runs, a shot from deep is usually involved.
"The difference in this team is their ability to consistently knock down threes. That's what makes them what they are in my opinion," Oregon State coach Scott Rueck said. "South Carolina will always be a great rebounding team. They'll always have an inside presence. They always have. They'll always have people that can really defend and disrupt.
"They haven't always had consistent perimeter scoring, and this team does. That's what ended up hurting us."
Oregon State would whittle the lead back down to 62-58 late in the fourth quarter. But it was largely an academic exercise. The Beavers had had their chance in the third quarter, and South Carolina had crushed it.
"We had to be near flawless, and we just weren't able," Rueck said. "We just weren't quite flawless enough."
It might be small consolation, but the Beavers are hardly alone. South Carolina has won all but six games this season by 10 or more points. The Gamecocks have options upon options upon options.
But what makes this South Carolina team so frightening is its refusal to buckle. It always finds somehow, some way, some one to create distance when an opponent is closing in.
The Gamecocks cut down the nets Sunday as the Albany 1 regional champions. Unless there's a team that can reel them in, stop those runs before the game gets out of hand, they'll be doing the same thing next Sunday.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.