April 06--TAMPA, Fla. -- Madison Cable made one basket all night.
It was Notre Dame's only points in the final 7 minutes, 51 seconds of Sunday's NCAA semifinal against South Carolina.
It sent the Irish to Tuesday's NCAA title game against the winner of the Connecticut-Maryland semifinal.
Cable's rebound short jumper from the baseline with 16 seconds left gave Notre Dame a 66-65 victory in a game it had led by 12 points with 7:30 to play.
Notre Dame (36-2) overcame foul trouble, a horrible night from point guard Lindsay Allen and South Carolina's 39-6 advantage in bench scoring to make its fourth NCAA final in the last five years.
Allen, who had scored 51 points in the two regional games, came up scoreless against South Carolina (34-3).
Jewell Loyd, erratic throughout, led the Irish with 22 points, but it was the scoring and rebounding of low post players Brianna Turner (17, 8) and Taya Reimer (16,6) that made the difference for Notre Dame.
The Gamecocks are big and deep. Their starting front line is 6-foot-4, 6-0, 6-0. Their first two players off the bench -- who get as many minutes as the starters -- are 6-5 A'ja Wilson, the country's top recruit last year, and 6-4 Alina Coates, the 2014 Southeastern Conference freshman of the year.
"Their depth is just probably the best in the game," Irish coach Muffet McGraw said. "They have great post players on the bench and in the starting lineup."
South Carolina coach Dawn Staley began the season with both Wilson and Coates in the starting lineup, but that lasted just one game before she went back to the previous season's starters.
"Sometimes the best five players don't have the type of chemistry you need to be successful, so we made a change to go back to a lineup that was more comfortable," Staley said. "We thought it would be a great opportunity for Asia and Alaina to see the game a little bit.
"They come in the game, and we're a completely different basketball team. So it put a lot of pressure on our opponents to prepare for two different teams."
Wilson, who has guard skills, became the 2015 SEC freshman of the year. Coates made the all-defensive team.
And just as it looked as if the Irish would run South Carolina out of the building, the Gamecocks' bench came into play.
The Irish were ahead 17-5 when a Wilson block turned the tide, starting a 19-8 run that cut the Notre Dame lead to 25-24.
Turner turned it back with a block of Wilson that allowed Notre Dame to go into intermission with a 32-28 lead.
There was a feeling the game's two All-America guards, Loyd of Notre Dame and Tiffany Mitchell of South Carolina, could neutralize each other, making their teammates' contributions even more important.
Loyd came into the Final Four after shooting poorly in the rest of the tournament, with as many turnovers as assists (12).
"I was rushing a little," Loyd said. "I wouldn't say I was trying to do too much. My teammates were carrying me, and that's awesome."
But Loyd continued to struggle in the first half, making just 4 of 12 shots. Low post players Turner and Reimer were the Irish offense at that point, each with 10 points.
