South Carolina rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit Friday night to defeat Stanford 62-53 to advance to the National Championship game. A'ja Wilson was outstanding, finishing with 13 points, 19 rebounds, four assists, and three blocks.

At halftime, little was going the Gamecocks' way, and it looked like their second Final Four would end the same as the first, with a semifinal loss. Wilson was struggling to get going, neither Kaela Davis nor Allisha Gray had a hot hand, and the teacher, Tara VanDerveer, who was 5-0 all-time against Dawn Staley as a player and coach, was getting the best of the pupil.

Stanford led 29-20 at the break, holding South Carolina to its lowest point total in a half this season. Stanford's defense was dictating who shot the ball for South Carolina, and nobody was stepping up. The Gamecocks suffered through one of the most offensively-challenged stretches of the Staley era, scoring six points on 2-of-14 shooting in the second quarter.

But South Carolina did not panic and stayed the course. The offense continued to run through Wilson, and Davis and Gray continued to drive the lane. Contact that was not called in the first half started drawing whistles, and shots began to fall.

"We were fortunate to be down nine," Staley said. "I just wanted to get our kids to the locker room at halftime because I knew, no matter how many points we were down, we could utilize our speed to get back into play, whether that's trapping in the half court, whether that's picking up full court, whether that's coming off ball screens, setting our players up in positions where they could be effective. Timeouts weren't long enough to get our message across. We needed to get into halftime, kind of exhale a little bit."

Gray, who scored 13 of her game-high 18 points in the second half, scored on a drive to open the third quarter. The teams traded baskets and after a layup by Smith, Stanford led 33-26 with 6:55 left in the frame. Then South Carolina went on a game-changing run.

A turnover got the Gamecocks in transition and Davis was fouled, making two free throws. After a block by Wilson, her second in as many possessions, Gray drew a foul, making both free throws. Another Cardinal miss led to another basket by Gray, and suddenly the Gamecocks were within a point. Gray blocked a shot on the other end, and then the Gamecocks took the lead for good.

Wilson got the ball in the high post and, as was the case most of the game, drew a triple team. She kicked the ball out to a wide-open Bianca Cuevas-Moore, who calmly sank the go-ahead three-pointer. South Carolina had the momentum, and Stanford was pressing. It was never more obvious than on the ensuing possession, when Stanford missed four straight baskets, including a couple chip shots. After the fourth miss, Doniyah Cliney got ahead in transition for a layup, leading to a Stanford timeout. Stanford couldn't convert after the timeout, and Bianca Cuevas-Moore made a tough floater in the lane.

Cuevas-Moore's basket capped a 13-0, six-minute run. During the span, Stanford missed 14 straight shot attempts and saw its nine-point halftime lead turn into a six-point deficit. But Stanford scored the next four points, and then Mikiah Herbert Harrigan made a key putback at the end of the quarter to give South Carolina a 41-37 lead going into the final stanza.

South Carolina had outscored Stanford 21-8 in the third quarter, giving both teams a single-digit quarter. With the game in the balance, both teams' offenses found their rhythm in the fourth quarter. Wilson forced her will for South Carolina and Gray made critical plays. First Wilson fed Gray for a layup to put South Carolina up seven, its largest lead of the game to that point. 10### answered with a three, and then Wilson scored three points on the next possession, thanks to an offensive rebound by Gray. After a layup by ##Carrington, Gray drove and was fouled on the floater. She made the free throw to put South Carolina up eight with 4:13 left.

The Cardinal answered with their final rally. Smith hit a short jumper, and then 11 drilled a spot-up three to draw within 53-50. Then Wilson was fouled on an offensive rebound and made one free throw. McCall, lost control of the ball on a drive, and the Gamecocks milked the shot clock. Tyasha Harris, who scored a career-high 16 points in the last round against Florida State and yet was still dared to shoot by the Cardinal, banked in a jumper at the end of the shot clock to give the Gamecocks a 56-50 lead with 56 seconds left.

On the other end, McPhee shot a quick straightaway three and miss. Cuevas-Moore leaked out on the shot, and Gray grabbed the rebound and passed ahead to her for the game-clinching layup. South Carolina made its free throws in the final seconds to seal the win.

Stanford double- and triple-teamed Wilson throughout the game. She was forced into six turnovers, but Wilson still made the key plays in the second half to get the win, including tying her career-high with 19 rebounds.

"It's very tough when you have kind of three people around you. You see that your teammate is open, but you really just can't get it there the way that you want it. So, of course, it's frustrating. I see it, and I just can't get there," Wilson said. "I kind of let the game come to me. I try to get every loose ball without fouling. I find a way for us to get the possession. If it was that 50/50 ball, so be it. I think that really kind of gave me the momentum to say, we're going to be okay."

"I didn't think she handled the double-teams and triple-teams well tonight," Staley said. "But she found a way to impact the game other ways. Getting in there and rebounding the basketball. If we don't have her contributions on the boards, you know, we're not playing on Sunday night."

South Carolina advances to the championship game for the first time in program history. It will play Mississippi State, who ended UConn's 111-game winning streak with a 66-64 overtime victory.