South Carolina women’s basketball advances after beating UCLA 59 TO 43

GREENVILLE, S.C. (FOX Carolina) - South Carolina women’s basketball are still in the game after beating UCLA 59 to 43 in NCAA Tournament on Saturday.

The Gamecocks have cruised through the first rounds of the tournament, winning their last two games by a combined 63 points.

Led by Naismith awards finalists Aliyah Boston and Dawn Staley, the Gamecocks are looking to repeat as NCAA Champions this year. However, the 4th-seeded Bruins will be one of their toughest tests this season.

In the first quarter, Bria Beal led the Gamecocks with 5 points and 5 rebounds, while UCLA were able to get some points on the board. The quarter ended with the Gamecocks leading 14 to 8.

Beal led the field with 10 points in the first half of the game. The most jarring statistic so far though is the 0 offensive rebounds by the Bruin, but the Gamecocks held the rebounding edge 24-14 overall. The first half ended with Gamecocks leading 25 to 15.

At the end of the third quarter, the Gamecocks were leading 50 to 30. The team bumped up the shooting percentage 43% with 24 points in the paint to create that distance.

The Bruins were trailing the Gamecocks by 20 points in the third quarter.

The Gamecocks had 18 points in the paint and were leading 37-22 at the 5:00 mark of the third quarter.

The Gamecocks will face the No. 2 Maryland on Monday, March 27.

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