BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − No one was sitting down and Legacy Arena was filled with fans waiting to see who would head to the Final Four in the Elite Eight game between No. 1 seed South Carolina women's basketball (34-3) and No.
2 Duke (29-8).After an offensive foul on South Carolina's Bree Hall, it was down to just 29 seconds of defense for Gamecocks coach Dawn Staley's starters to keep the dream of defending its national title alive, gripping a two-point lead tightly.Raven Johnson, South Carolina's star defender, was on Duke's 3-point shooter Ashlon Jackson, who had hit two already.
With seven seconds left Johnson switched on the screen, putting Sania Feagin in charge of defending the shot."Please don't go in, please don't go in," Feagin said she thought.The 6-foot-3 forward stretched vertically, avoiding a foul, and Jackson's stepback heave fell short for an airball.
The defensive plan all along was to switch, which meant the entire team and Staley all relied on Feagin in that moment. The season depended on her ability to contest the shot cleanly.With the 54-50 win, the Gamecocks are headed to their fifth straight Final Four.
Feagin finished with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, along with three assists, two blocks and three steals."Her growth, her maturation process has just been on an upward trajectory," Staley said. "I've always said she was the most talented big.
Whatever big that was on our roster, she was the most talented as far as being able to make moves and und.
