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San Antonio, Texas – Lotta-Maj Lahtinen and Kierra Fletcher scored 36 of Georgia Tech’s points, keeping the Yellow Jackets within striking distance into the final four minutes of the game, but South Carolina closed the game on a 7-2 run to put the Jackets away, 76-65, Sunday afternoon in the NCAA Hemisfair Region Sweet 16 game at the Alamodome.
Georgia Tech’s dream season in its second campaign under head coach Nell Fortner ended with a 17-9 record. The top-seeded Gamecocks (25-4) advanced to an Elite Eight matchup against either Texas or Maryland.
Tech battled from behind most of the game after holding their last lead at 4-2 less than three minutes in. The Jackets trailed by as many as 10 points in the second quarter, but went to intermission down just 39-35 as Lahtinen scored 16 of her game-high 20 points.
South Carolina outscored Tech 23-15 in the third period to gain the cushion it needed, including a 7-0 spurt after Fletcher’s opening bucket and a 9-0 burst later in the period to lead by as many as 17 (62-45 with 2:14 left). Aliyah Boston scored all nine of her points in that stretch, and Victaria Saxton added eight for the Gamecocks, who connected on 10-of-14 shots from the floor in the period.
Tech continued to battle, however, putting together a 9-0 run over a 3-minute, 50-second stretch spanning the quarter break to get within eight, 62-54, with 8:47 remaining in the game.