South Carolina 59, UCLA 43

South Carolina's defenders chased ballhandlers and used their length to disrupt any flow. Its bigs continued to snag just about every miss coming off the rim.

It's an unwavering combination, one that at times has the Gamecocks' push for a second straight national championship flirting with a vibe of inevitability.

Three-time All-American Aliyah Boston had 14 boards and two blocks while reigning national champion South Carolina turned in its latest overwhelming defense-and-rebounding-first performance to beat UCLA on Saturday in the Sweet 16 of the women's NCAA Tournament.

Kamilla Cardoso added 10 points and Boston had eight for the Gamecocks (35-0), the top overall tournament seed and the headliner in the Greenville 1 Region. It marked South Carolina's 41st consecutive victory, securing the program's sixth trip to the Elite Eight under coach Dawn Staley.

"We definitely do a lot of (defensive) work in practice, whether it's ball-screen, whatever the case may be," said Brea Beal, who had 10 points for South Carolina. "I think for games like this when offensive scoring is very low, we definitely rely on our defense to keep their scoring lower than ours."

Three games into the NCAAs, the Gamecocks have yet to surrender more than 45 points or let an opponent hit even 30% of its shots. They next face 2-seed Maryland in Monday's regional final in a rematch of the Gamecocks' 81-56 win from the season's opening week.

It wasn't an easy offensive operation for South Carolina, with UCLA sagging defensively to pack the paint in hopes of negating the Gamecocks' size advantage behind Boston. But South Carolina turned nearly every look into a difficult one for the fourth-seeded Bruins (27-10).

"It was the lowest point total that anyone had held them to in a half in the first half," UCLA coach Cori Close said, "and we couldn't even take advantage of that because we were struggling so much offensively."

The Gamecocks won the first meeting with UCLA 73-64 in November, with the Bruins shooting 32% in that game. Things got worse this time, with UCLA going shooting 29% — including 3 for 18 from 3-point range.

"I feel like everything was rough," UCLA guard Camryn Brown said, adding: "We were a little frantic out there."

By the final horn, UCLA had committed 15 turnovers on 63 possession, a nearly 25% rate.

Charisma Osborne scored 14 points to lead UCLA, which was in the Sweet 16 for the eighth time. The Bruins were trying to reach the regional finals for the first time since 2018 and only the third time in program history while pursuing their first Final Four appearance.

But in a sign of what was to come, the Bruins kept missing shots that they needed for any chance at a stunning upset. Worse, they failed to grab even a few of those misses to keep possessions alive early, with the Gamecocks taking a 9-0 edge in offensive rebounds in the first half.

Meanwhile, the Gamecocks led 25-15 at halftime before matching their game-long point total in the third quarter.

That included a couple of way-too-familiar sequences for Close. Twice the Gamecocks managed to lob a pass inside to the 6-foot-7 Cardoso, who used her long arms to reach over 6-2 fronting defender Christeen Iwuala and snag the ball for easy under-the-rim finishes in traffic.

Or there was Beal using her right hand to tap out a loose rebound over Gabriela Jaquez before securing it, then dumping it immediately inside to Victaria Saxton inside for a soft hook.

It was all the same often-demoralizing sequences that has overwhelmed teams all season, this time coming with the home-state Gamecocks as the main draw here in the new double-regional format.

They drew loud cheers from the crowd just for making their way into the locker-room tunnel during the Notre Dame-Maryland game with their game to follow. The roars returned as each player who lingered to wrap up pregame shootaround came off the court — several waving two arms high in acknowledgement — in a mostly full arena.

The cheers were louder, of course, as the Gamecocks spent the final minutes closing out a win to advance again.

Maryland 76, Notre Dame 59

Amid and happiness and on-court celebration for Maryland reaching the Elite Eight for the first time in eight years, Terps coach Brenda Frese took a few moments to smile and reflect how far her team has come in the past year.

The best part for Frese is the journey's not done yet.

Diamond Miller and Shyanne Sellers had 18 points apiece as the Terps (28-6) took control in the third quarter to defeat depleted No. 3 seed Notre Dame and move a victory away from a trip to the Final Four.

The Terps will play defending champion South Carolina, the undefeated, top overall seed, on Monday night for a trip to Dallas. The Gamecocks won their 41st straight game in a 59-43 victory over fourth-seeded UCLA in Saturday's second game at the Greenville 1 Regional.

Chasing a championship didn't look promising at the end of last season. Frese had lost 85 percent of her offense a year ago as Maryland went through a roster transition with nine new faces. The group gelled quickly and are among the last teams still standing in March Madness.

"What I felt like a year ago and to where we are today," recalled Frese, who won an NCAA title 2006 and last reached the Elite Eight in 2015. "Yeah, this one is going to be one I'll remember for a very long time."

Miller, the transcendent 6-foot-3 All-American, was asked why she didn't join the exodus from Maryland after her junior season a year ago.

She reasoned that stay or go, she'd play with new, unfamiliar players. "When you look at it like that, I was like, 'I'm just going to stay and trust the process.' And I'm so happy I did," Miller said.

Miller and Sellers combined for 30 of their 36 points in the final two quarters.

The third-seeded Fighting Irish (27-6) played once again without injured leading-scorer Olivia Miles after her knee injury at the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament earlier this month.

Miles and guard Dara Mabrey, both starters, were injured spectators for Notre Dame, which hung tight with Maryland for 25 minutes before Miller and Sellers took over.

Miller, the first-team All-American, shook off a poor first half as Maryland gained control. Tied at 44-all, Lavender Briggs had a 3-pointer and Miller followed with a three-point play as the Terps closed the third quarter on a 13-1 run.

Notre Dame, which fought off Mississippi State on its home floor to advance last week, could not respond.

Maryland used its defensive pressure to break out early, forcing eight turnovers by the Fighting Irish to build a 19-14 lead. But Notre Dame showed its NCAA Tournament resiliency once more with a 13-0 burst to move in front 27-19.

Miller and Brinae Alexander each hit 3-pointers in the final 80 seconds of the half to cut the lead to 32-31.

Things changed in the second half as the Terps and their leading scorers turned up the fire.

"I just felt like they were confident and aggressive and they got really good looks, and they nailed every shot that they took," Notre Dame coach Niele Ivey said.

Part of Notre Dame's success was holding Miller in check the first 20 minutes. She was just 1-of-4 shooting with two rebounds and three of her team's eight turnovers. When Miller got going, Maryland was moving on to where it hadn't been since 2015.

Sonia Citron led the Fighting Irish with 14 points, their only double-figure scorer.

Virginia Tech 73, Tennessee 64

Georgia Amoore scored a career-high 29 points and top-seeded Virginia Tech advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time in school history with a win over No. 4 seed Tennesseey.

The Hokies (30-4) won their 14th straight game overall and advanced to a matchup with No. 3 seed Ohio State in the Seattle 3 Regional final on Monday night. Ohio State topped UConn in the first semifinal, ending the Huskies' streak of 14 straight Final Four appearances.

Amoore and the Hokies used a dominant stretch spanning the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third that built enough of a cushion to hold off Tennessee's valiant rally over the final 12 minutes.

Amoore attempted 19 3-pointers in the Hokies' second-round win, but shot only 14 this time around.

Kayana Traylor added 14 points and Elizabeth Kitley scored 12 points despite sitting a big chunk of the first half with foul trouble. The ACC Tournament champions had reached the Sweet 16 only once previously in school history and are now one win away from the Final Four.

Jordan Horston led Tennessee (25-12) with 17 points. Rickea Jackson scored 15 and Jordan Walker added 12.

The Lady Vols reached the regional semifinals for the second straight season, but haven't been to the Elite Eight since 2016. And it was their offense that was so impressive in the first two rounds that disappeared against the Hokies.

The Lady Vols scored 95 points in their first-round win over Saint Louis and followed up with 94 in an impressive blowout of Toledo. But Tennessee relied too much on perimeter shots early on, to the point coach Kellie Harper yelled at her team "who are we?" after attempting their 12th 3-pointer of the first half.

Tennessee made just 3 of 17 attempts from beyond the arc against the Hokies after making 11 of 22 in the win over Toledo.

The Hokies closed the first half with a flourish, scoring the final eight points to take a 35-22 lead at the break. Amoore started the second half with her fourth 3-pointer of the game and Kitley scored on the interior and quickly a five-point game ballooned to a 40-22 Virginia Tech lead.

Tennessee trimmed the deficit to nine by the end of the third quarter and its surge continued into the fourth quarter. Tennessee capped the 19-4 run with Jasmine Powell's 3-pointer with 6:05 left and pulled with 53-52.

But turnovers and fouls started to mount and for the Lady Vols and Virginia Tech pushed its lead back to 11 on Amoore's jumper with 2:10 remaining.