Stanford collapses late against South Carolina to drop top-two showdown in overtime

STANFORD — The matchup between the top two teams in the country more than lived up to its hype.

But the Cardinal’s long history of struggles in matchups between the top two teams in the country added a new and especially painful chapter on Sunday.

No. 1 South Carolina pulled off a come-from-behind 76-71 win in overtime over No. 2 Stanford in front of a sellout crowd at Maples Pavilion.

Stanford never trailed in regulation and led by 10 after three quarters, but South Carolina clamped down on defense and charged back to force overtime, with reigning national player of the year Aliyah Boston’s mid-range touch jumper with 2.1 seconds left tying the score. The Cardinal turned the ball over on its inbounds pass to send the game to overtime.

South Carolina didn’t take its first lead of the game until two minutes into overtime, when they hit two free throws. The extra frame saw the teams trade the lead for several possessions, but with the Cardinal down one, Haley Jones had her shot blocked with 1:10 left, and South Carolina’s Bree Hall hit a 3-pointer with 41 seconds left to push the lead to four.

Sophomore Kiki Iriafen hit two free throws to cut it to two, and the Cardinal forced a turnover to get the ball back with 10 seconds left. But the Gamecocks’ stifling defense forced a five-second violation before the Cardinal could inbound the ball.

South Carolina missed both free throws with five seconds left and Iriafen grabbed the rebound, but she called timeout when the Cardinal didn’t have one.

Cameron Brink shined for Stanford when she was on the floor, scoring a game-high 25 points on 8-of-13 shooting and scored six of Stanford’s seven fourth quarter points. But the junior battled foul trouble all game and fouled out with 3:01 left in overtime.

The Cardinal is now 1-10 when playing in matchups between the top two teams in the AP Poll all-time, and have lost two straight to the Gamecocks. Last year, the Cardinal led by as much as 18 in Columbia, but collapsed in the second half as South Carolina stormed back for a 65-61 win.

Stanford heads to Hawaii over Thanksgiving weekend to play three games in the Rainbow Wahine Showdown, including one game against a strong mid-major in FGCU. The Cardinal’s next home game is on Sunday, Dec. 4 against Gonzaga, who just beat #6 Louisville on Saturday.