Women’s Final Four live updates: Score and analysis from South Carolina vs. Stanford

NCAA tournament results: beat Mercer, 79-53; Oregon State, 59-42; Georgia Tech, 76-65; Texas 62-34

Elite Eight: South Carolina (26-4) pounced on Texas from the opening tip and never let up as the Gamecocks reached their third Final Four in program history.

Win the boards, win the game: On the surface, both South Carolina (third) and Stanford (13th) rank among the nation’s best in terms of rebounding differential. But after a closer look at each team’s rebounding stats, it’s clear that despite having similar totals, the Gamecocks are actually a more effective rebounding team as they secure 44.2 percent off their own missed shots — otherwise known as offensive rebounds.

Use defense to push the tempo on offense: With speedy guards like Zia Cooke and Destanni Henderson, South Carolina does an excellent job of translating defensive stops into quick buckets on the other end. Against Texas, South Carolina experienced multiple droughts on offense when it failed to get stops and was forced to run more half-court action, but went on decisive runs whenever it got out in transition. With the status of Stanford freshman Cameron Brink up in the air, getting out in transition could really put a strain on the Cardinal’s vaunted depth

Quotable: “You can’t look at it as the depth of Stanford. You can’t look at it as, they’re gonna spread you out. You can’t look at the cumulative stats. You can’t look at how many threes they make. You have to look at what you need to do to disrupt that. And that’s how we’re approaching it. We have to have major disruption, and let the chips fall where they may.” — South Carolina Coach Dawn Staley