University of South Carolina’s Sania Feagin (20) passes around Duke’s Toby Fournier (35) during the first half of action at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, March 30, 2025 in the Birmingham 2 regional of the NCAA Tournament. Tracy Glantz tglantz@thestate.com

Birmingham, Ala.

There must’ve been some March magic in the air in Legacy Arena on Sunday afternoon.

No. 1 seed South Carolina clinched a trip to their fifth-straight Final Four with a 54-50 win over No. 2 Duke in the Elite Eight game of the NCAA Tournament.

The win comes nearly 10 years to the date after South Carolina punched a ticket to its first Final Four in program history.

The site of that first Final Four back in 2015? Tampa, Florida. The site of this year’s Final Four? Right back in Tampa.

Tampa bound!

This will be South Carolina’s seventh trip to the Final Four in the program’s history.

The Gamecocks (34-3) will play Friday against the winner of Monday’s Elite Eight game from the Birmingham 4 Region.

South Carolina will either play No. 1 Texas, which would mark the fourth time they’ve played this season, or it would face No. 2 TCU, who the Gamecocks beat in December.

University of South Carolina’s Raven Johnson (25) takes a three during the first half of action against Duke at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham on Sunday, March 30, 2025 in the Birmingham 2 regional of the NCAA Tournament. Tracy Glantz tglantz@thestate.com

Back and forth (again)

South Carolina played each of its opponents in Birmingham very closely.

Although the Gamecocks didn’t trail going into halftime like they did in the second round against Indiana or like they did in the Sweet 16 against Maryland, South Carolina and Duke were locked in step with each other.

South Carolina built up an 11-point lead in the second quarter but saw it quickly evaporate with a run from Duke in the final minutes of the second half. The Gamecocks led 26-22 at the half.

Duke opened the second half on a run of its own and even outscored the Gamecocks 20-12 in the third quarter. The Blue Devils led 42-38 at the end of the third quarter, their longest lead of the game to that point.

South Carolina reclaimed the lead after starting the fourth quarter on an 8-0 run but never led by more than four points.

Duke cut the led to just two with as little as 30 seconds left but airballed a 3-point attempt with seven seconds left, turning the ball over.

Discrepancy on the glass

South Carolina struggled on the glass all day against Duke.

The Blue Devils out-rebounded the Gamecocks 41-30 in the game, including a 19-6 difference on the offensive glass alone.

Duke was able to log 12 second-chance points.

Impact players

Sania Feagin and Chloe Kitts have dominated for South Carolina all postseason long and continued their hot streak on Sunday.

Feagin led South Carolina in points, rebounds and assists for most of the matchup with Duke. She finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Kitts had 14 points and four rebounds. She hit two clinching free throws in the game’s final moments.

Toby Fournier kept Duke in the game. The forward scored a game-high 18 points.

NCAA women’s Final Four schedule

• Game 1: South Carolina vs. Texas/TCU winner
• Game 2: Southern Cal/UConn winner vs. UCLA/LSU winner
• Where: Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.
• When: Friday at 7 or 9 p.m.
• TV: ESPN
• Stream: ESPN app

This story was originally published March 30, 2025 at 3:11 PM.