This post was updated July 27 at 2:00 p.m.

GREENVILLE, S.C. – Emily Bessoir fell to her knees under the basket.

The redshirt sophomore forward had gone down while boxing out the Gamecocks. 

She wouldn’t make it to the other end of the court, however, before 14-year South Carolina coach Dawn Staley took a timeout of her own and motioned to the referee that Bessoir had yet to stand up. 

Despite Staley’s display of mercy from the sidelines, No. 1 seed South Carolina (35-0, 16-0 SEC) was relentless on the court in its 59-43 win over No. 4 seed UCLA women’s basketball (27-10, 11-7 Pac-12) in the Sweet 16 on Saturday. Garnering 12,879 spectators in Greenville, South Carolina, the stage was set for a rematch between the two programs from November. During their early-season matchup, the Bruins kept pace through three quarters, eventually falling by nine points – one of only six programs this year to keep the Gamecocks within single digits. 

“I thought we were really prepared for how they were going to pressure us,” said coach Cori Close. “But we didn’t do much of anything that we had planned on at the beginning. … We were standing and watching.”

Saturday was a different story, as South Carolina’s win was wire to wire from the tip, and the Bruins failed to lead the Gamecocks once. The game was a grind for both teams, however, as South Carolina’s 59-point output was its second-lowest all season, and UCLA’s 43 points were its lowest since 2014.

Senior guard Charisma Osborne said the Bruins were disorganized and failed to make necessary adjustments with the raucous crowd in the periphery.

“It was just really loud. We were trying to figure out exactly what we were running, trying to figure out how exactly they were guarding us,” Osborne said. “It just took us too long to figure that out.”

After the intermission to help Bessoir up in the third quarter, South Carolina hit two more shots to stretch the lead to 20, its largest lead of the contest thus far. South Carolina had improved to 43% through three quarters while holding UCLA to 33%.

The top-ranked team in the nation refused to subside in the fourth quarter, stretching its lead to 23 and never letting it fall below 16. The South Carolina faithful – traveling an hour and a half to witness the matchup – stood on their feet and stayed there as the Gamecocks survived and advanced to the Elite Eight.

Senior guard Camryn Brown  – after likely her last game donning the blue and gold – attributed the Bruins’ struggles to a lack of cohesiveness on both ends of the ball.

“Everything was rough,” Brown said. “We couldn’t get on the same page. We were a little frantic out there. … I don’t think we ever really got a rhythm together as a team for us to get the shots we wanted.”

Bessoir got the Bruins on the board with a 3-pointer but logged limited minutes after early foul trouble. Similarly to Monday’s Round of 32 matchup against No. 5 seed Oklahoma, Bessoir fouled twice in the first frame, and the freshmen off the bench were required to step up.

South Carolina then went on a quick 6-0 run and held the Bruins to a 17% clip from the field in the first quarter. UCLA committed three turnovers to close the frame while trailing 14-8, but Osborne achieved a defensive stop just as the shot clock expired to energize the Bruins.

Freshman forward Lina Sontag – who substituted in for Bessoir – got to work in the paint early in the second quarter to bring UCLA within four. But both teams couldn’t take care of the ball and traded turnovers while the Bruins endured a nearly four-minute scoring drought.

Brown added that when the shots weren’t falling, the Bruins directed their attention to efforts on the defensive end.

“We just kept going back to defensive rebounding,” Brown said. “Shots weren’t going in, but we can defend, we can rebound, and that’s what we were trying to get back to each time.”

Sontag answered the Gamecocks by executing an electric block against reigning National Player of the Year forward Aliyah Boston in the second quarter when the momentum appeared to be shifting. But the rookie fouled forward Kamilla Cardoso on the ensuing possession, and nearly a minute later, South Carolina guard Brea Beal drilled her second from deep. Freshman forward Christeen Iwuala – who was in concussion protocol for the teams’ Nov. 29 matchup – got a look inside to bring the score to 25-15 to conclude the half.

Sontag logged another block to commence the second half, and the Bruins pulled within single digits as Osborne’s reverse layup found the bottom of the net. But the Gamecocks made six of their next eight shots and sank six free throws to stretch the lead to 44-28.

Osborne got the Bruins back on the board with a pullup jumper, but Boston immediately responded with a two inside. With the score at 46-30, Bessoir went down as the Bruins battled but to no avail.

“It’s my least favorite day of the year because I love these seniors,” Close said. “We didn’t play our best game tonight, but I’m not going to let that take away from the journey that these seniors led us through and the growth of the team that they grew into.”