TAMPA, Fla. — It wasn't fully quiet in Amalie Arena, but the cheers were far away across the gym, and those standing up with enthusiastic smiles and claps were donning burnt orange and white.
Defending national champion and No. 1 seed South Carolina women's basketball (35-3) trailed 8-2 to No. 1 Texas when freshman forward Joyce Edwards jogged to the scorer's table.
Greatness was everywhere. A'ja Wilson, the most decorated player in program history, was inches away from the bench. Aliyah Boston, another forward whose name fills the program's history books, was just two rows back.
Edwards turned back to look at Boston and smiled.
In the seven first-quarter minutes Edwards played, she scored six of her 13 points. By the start of the second quarter, South Carolina trailed only 19-18 after trailing 12-4.
Edwards dominated and the freshman's double-double − she also had 11 rebounds − helped the Gamecocks advance to their second consecutive national title game on Sunday (3 p.m., ABC) with a 74-57 win over the Longhorns (35-4). South Carolina will play UConn (36-3), which crushed UCLA 85-51 in the other semifinal.
Edwards also had three blocks and six assists and drew six fouls.
Coming into Friday, the scouting reports for both sides screamed defense but begged for offense, as neither team had a particular strong offensive showing throughout the Birmingham Regionals.
Edwards leads South Carolina in scoring with 13 points per game, but after putting up 22 points against Tennessee Tech in the Gamecocks' NCAA tournament opener March 21, she failed to score six or more in their next three March Madness games.
"I feel I was more definitive," Edwards said. "More open-minded, giving what the game gave me, not overthinking, not second-guessing, just going."
Edwards is typically the first player off the bench, but Friday it came with extra pressure. Not only was the freshman playing in her first Final Four game, but Texas had the height advantage in the paint. When the Longhorns defeated South Carolina 66-62 in Austin on Feb. 9, Staley said the reason Edwards (and Chloe Kitts) didn't play in the fourth was because they couldn't guard Texas' post players.
She had to score to get out of a mental and statistical funk, but defending and taking away post options was just as critical.
"It's comforting just knowing I was gonna bounce back," Edwards said. "It wasn't an ...
