Creighton’s Cinderella run in the Big Dance is over.
The No. 10 Bluejays lost to the top overall seed South Carolina Gamecocks 80-50 in the first Elite Eight matchup of the 2022 NCAA Women’s Tournament.
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Creighton’s women’s basketball team made program history by making it this far in the tournament. In seven appearances prior to this run, the Bluejays never made it past the second round.
After eliminating No. 7 Colorado, No. 2 Iowa and No. 3 Iowa State, Creighton didn’t have one more upset in the tank.
South Carolina had no trouble handling Creighton. Though the Bluejays trailed 23-16 after one quarter, the Gamecocks amplified the intensity on both ends of the floor in the second quarter.
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Creighton mustered just nine points in the second quarter to South Carolina’s 23, and the deficit just kept increasing in the second half.
The Bluejays only got outscored 18-15 in the third quarter, but they needed way more on the offensive side to make a fourth-quarter comeback.
Instead, South Carolina took a 35-point lead in the final period to eliminate Creighton’s hopes.
Aliyah Boston led the Gamecocks with 19 points on 7-for-9 shooting, which the Bluejays didn’t have an answer for. Boston beat double-teams and got whatever she wanted against Creighton’s defense to lead all scorers.
Lauren Jensen led the Bluejays with 12 points on 5-for-15 shooting, but the free throw disparity is what impaired Creighton’s chances. The Gamecocks went 21-for-27 from the charity stripe while the Bluejays cobbled a 1-for-5 mark.
Creighton became just the fourth double-digit seed in the women’s tournament to ever reach the Elite Eight, but it’ll be South Carolina advancing to the Final Four.
The Gamecocks will next play the winner of No. 1 Louisville and No. 3 Michigan in the national semifinal on Friday, April 1. South Carolina last season lost in the Final Four to Stanford, which is still alive as the No. 1 seed in the Spokane Region.
