Dawn Staley, South Carolina Beat Texas in Final Four as Fans Eye Back-to-Back Titles

The South Carolina women's basketball team will play for back-to-back national titles (and its third in four seasons) after defeating Texas 74-57 in the Final Four on Friday evening in Tampa Bay.

Gamecocks forward Joyce Edwards posted 13 points, 11 rebounds and six assists off the bench. Senior guard Te-Hina Paopao added 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting (3-of-4 from three).

The Longhorns were led by first-year guard Jordan Lee's 16 points.

Longhorns sophomore forward Madison Booker, the team's leading scorer, had a relatively quiet night with just 11 points.

The game changed when Booker picked up her second foul and was forced to temporarily sit with the Longhorns up 12-5 early. Texas largely struggled to get in an offensive rhythm from there, scoring just 45 points over the final 35:19.

Meanwhile, South Carolina chipped away at the lead and eventually took it in the second quarter for good en route to a 38-35 halftime edge.

The Gamecocks completely controlled the third quarter, though, outscoring the Longhorns 20-9 for a 58-44 lead. South Carolina led by double digits for the entire fourth quarter en route to the victory.

Naturally, fans were impressed with South Carolina's efforts Friday (with a focus on Edwards' great play) as well as the program's success under head coach Dawn Staley.

South Carolina will play UCLA or UConn in the national title game, which will take place on Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.