For the sixth straight season, the Gamecocks are headed to the Final Four. 

South Carolina survived the second weekend of NCAA tournament action after a pair of routs over Oklahoma and TCU. Through four games, the Gamecocks are winning by an average of 40 points per contest. 

“Anytime you're able to play in the third weekend in the NCAA Tournament is always special,” head coach Dawn Staley said after the win over TCU. “I think it's our sixth in a row. But it really doesn't feel like that because the work that it requires for you to get to this place, it's a lot.”

The Gamecocks punched their ticket to Phoenix and will play No. 1 overall seed UConn in the Final Four. They’ll be joined by fellow one-seeds, Texas and UCLA, who are playing in the other semifinal game.

It’s the second straight year those four teams are in the Final Four. UConn was the last one standing last season, beating the Gamecocks in the National Championship game.   

The same four teams have made consecutive Final Fours just once before, men’s or women’s. Those teams were Tennessee, UConn, Georgia and Stanford women in 1995 and 1996.

To get to Phoenix, South Carolina had to first dispatch the rest of the teams in its region.

In the Sweet 16, the Gamecocks had to avenge a previous loss. Oklahoma handed South Carolina its only SEC regular-season loss this season. The Sooners won a 94-82 overtime battle on their home floor. 

The rematch was nowhere near as close. The Gamecocks jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first quarter, and it only grew the rest of the game. 

Ta'Niya Latson led the team with 28 points on 7-11 shooting, including 4-4 from three-point land. Raven Johnson added 18 points, and Tessa Johnson had 14. 

“I was feeling really good tonight,” Latson said after the win. “I woke up on the right side of the bed. My teammates and my coaches, they believed in me. I just had to go out there with confidence.”

TCU managed to put up a bit more of a fight against the Gamecocks in the Elite Eight. The Horned Frogs jumped to an eight-point lead before South Carolina responded with a run of its own. 

South Carolina ended the first quarter up 16-14 after holding TCU to just two points in the period’s final five minutes. That lead grew in the second quarter after the Gamecocks outscored the Horned Frogs by six. 

Heading into the final period, South Carolina led by eight, but it was still anyone’s game. 

That did not last long as the Gamecocks came out and hit TCU with a 19-3 run to bury the game. 

“We just came out in the fourth quarter, and we knew that before we got to the five-minute mark, we wanted to be up by 20. Ta'Niya literally said that in the huddle,” star forward Joyce Edwards said. “That's what we did. I feel like our defense got more intense, and defense turned into offense, and we were able to get some transition buckets.”

Edwards finished the game with a team-high 24 points. Agot Makeer came off the bench and scored 18 points in 31 minutes. Raven Johnson filled the stat sheet with 10 points, eight rebounds and six assists. 

Johnson, a fifth-year senior, will be a key factor in South Carolina’s chances this weekend. She’s the most experienced player on the team, having made five Final Fours and winning two championships. 

“At the end of the day, Raven's a winner, a winner. And now, people are seeing the type of player that she is,” Staley said. “You really can't discount, and you can't really just know the full extent of a person and her leadership.” 

South Carolina will play UConn for a spot in the National Championship game this Friday at 7 p.m. at the Mortgage Matchup Center in Phoenix, Arizona.