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Stanford survives South Carolina, sets up all Pac-12 national title game with Arizona

The Cardinal survived a wild final sequence at the buzzer to advance to the national championship game vs. a familiar foe.

SAN ANTONIO — Haley Jones scored 24 points, including the go-ahead jumper with 32 seconds left, to help Stanford beat South Carolina 66-65 on Friday night and advance to the women's NCAA Tournament championship game.

It’s Stanford’s first trip to the title game since 2010, which was also in San Antonio. The Cardinal lost to UConn in that contest, 53-47.

The Cardinal (30-2) will face a familiar foe on Sunday in Pac-12 rival Arizona. Coach Tara VanDerveer will be looking for her third national championship at the school and first since 1992. Stanford won both regular season matchups with the Wildcats by double digits.

Trailing 65-64 with 32 seconds left, Jones hit a jumper from the corner that gave the Cardinal a one-point lead. Aliyah Boston had her shot blocked, but got her own rebound. Then, with 15 seconds left, Destanni Henderson threw a pass that was stolen by Ashten Prechtel.

After an inbounds, Cameron Brink lost the ball at midcourt to Boston, giving South Carolina a chance. Brea Beal missed a driving layup and Boston's putback at the buzzer also was off the rim, sending the Cardinal onto the court to celebrate.

Henderson had scored six consecutive points to give the Gamecocks (26-5) a 65-64 lead with 38.8 seconds left. She had a three-point play and a 3-pointer.

Zia Cooke finished with 25 points to lead South Carolina.

Trailing 15-6 midway through the first quarter, Stanford scored the last nine points of the period to tie the game heading into the second. The Gamecocks missed their final six shots of the quarter and were scoreless for the final 4:48.

“We know basketball team’s have runs, so we can’t let that first quarter or the first five minutes dictate the whole game,” said Stanford's Lexie Hull, who had 18 points and 13 rebounds.

The drought continued in the second quarter as the Gamecocks missed their first five shots and didn't hit a field goal until Zia Cooke's 3-pointer in the quarter made it 22-20. She had hit the previous basket nearly 9 1/2 minutes earlier.

The Cardinal had outscored the Gamecocks 16-2 since the early deficit.

Stanford led 31-25 at the half as Prechtel picked up where she left off from the win over Louisville in the Elite Eight. She had 16 points, all in the second half, to help the Cardinal rally to beat Louisville. She had seven in the opening 20 minutes against South Carolina.

Boston had a solid first half with seven points, nine rebounds and four blocks for the Gamecocks. She finished with 11 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

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Travis Pittman contributed to this report.

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