No. 1 South Carolina gets Final Four revenge over No. 2 Stanford, 65-61

Destanni Henderson. 

That was the difference-maker in the third quarter. South Carolina's floor general got seven quick steals and turned them into offense to create a shift in energy for the Gamecocks to storm back in the third. South Carolina forced Stanford into 15 turnovers and scored 18 points off of its mistakes. Henderson currently has 10 points and Boston leads with 13. 

Brea Beal knocked down a crucial three to steal the lead from Stanford, 50-49, heading into the final frame. 

10 points
6 assists
7 (!?) steals

It's good to have you back,

— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB)

We have a ball game! How about a 10-0 run out of the half by South Carolina to climb back in the third quarter, 47-40. 

Q3: Five points in the blink of an eye! splashes from 3, then a turnover becomes an easy hoop for . We got a ballgame here in the CLA!

ESPN2:
STATS:

— GamecockWBB (@GamecockWBB)

Stanford's Lexi Hull owned the first quarter with 14 of Stanford's 21 points to end the first quarter. There's no hiding the fact that Hull has the hot hand and her teammates have done a great job finding her. But Hull has also done a great job creating for herself, scoring inside and out, shooting 60 percent from the floor and 2-for-3 beyond the arc. 

Defense has also been impressive in the paint from Stanford, containing South Carolina's front court with six blocks. It is worthy to note that Stanford did not go to the free-throw line. 

SHE. IS. ON. FIRE.

— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB)

Stanford's offense looks polished and efficient, so far. The Cardinals are shooting 5-for-8 from the floor and a flawless 2-for2 from beyond the arc. That's thanks to deep three's from Hannah Jump and Lexie Hull. ;

South Carolina is shooting 4-for-14 from the floor, but only trails by one point at the first media timeout. 

𝗕𝗨𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗧𝗦 ‼️

📺 » 𝗘𝗦𝗣𝗡𝟮

— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB)

Grab your popcorn!

It's time for a top-2 matchup. Tip-off is @ 7 pm ET on ESPN2. Will No. 1 South Carolina get its Final Four revenge over Stanford or will the defending champs look to regain its throne? Tune in to find out. 

Never afraid of a challenge.

— Stanford Women’s Basketball (@StanfordWBB)

WHEN: You can watch No. 2 Stanford and Haley Jones (above) at No. 1 South Carolina at 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday, Dec. 21.  

HOW TO WATCH ON TV: The game will be nationally televised on ESPN2. .

LOCATION: Colonial Life Arena | Columbia, South Carolina 

Click here to see the full women's basketball scoreboard and schedule.

Below is the most recent AP Top 25 women's basketball poll, updated on Monday, Dec. 20. South Carolina is No. 1, as it has been all season, while Stanford is up one spot to No. 2.

RANK	TEAM	RECORD	POINTS	PREVIOUS
1	South Carolina (29)	11-0	725	1
2	Stanford	8-2	678	3
3	Louisville	10-1	643	6
4	Arizona	10-0	642	4
5	NC State	11-2	616	2
6	Maryland	9-3	517	9
7	Tennessee	9-1	504	7
8	Indiana	9-2	500	10
9	Michigan	11-1	498	13
10	Baylor	9-2	487	5
11	UConn	6-3	457	7
12	Texas	8-1	435	11
T-13	Georgia	10-1	381	17
T-13	Iowa State	11-1	381	12
15	Iowa	6-2	273	14
16	Duke	9-1	270	15
17	Georgia Tech	9-2	225	18
18	South Florida	8-3	219	16
19	BYU	9-1	152	20
20	Notre Dame	10-2	137	21
21	LSU	9-1	130	22
22	Kentucky	7-3	127	19
23	Texas A&M	9-2	82	23
24	Ohio State	8-2	68	24
25	North Carolina	10-0	66	25

The moment has finally come! It's time for a Final Four rematch: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 2 Stanford. This is a matchup we all circled on our calendars when teams released their schedules.

We all remember the heartbreaking loss South Carolina suffered against Stanford back in March. Only one point stood between South Carolina advancing to the championship round. Instead, a missed layup from Brea Beal and putback from Aliyah Boston allowed the Cardinal to go on and become the 2021 NCAA women's basketball tournament champs. That game is still fresh on the Gamecocks' mind.

South Carolina is bringing back all players from its Final Four squad and Stanford returns all but Kianna Williams from its championship team. Since then, head coach Tara VanDerveer and Dawn Staley have revamped their teams with more depth and scoring weapons. 

South Carolina will suit up on Tuesday, Dec. 21 to avenge the loss that sent them home early with home court advantage in Columbia, South Carolina. So far, the Gamecocks are undefeated, including 5-0 against unranked opponents — NC State, Oregon, UConn, Maryland and Duke. Can they add Stanford to this list? 

On the other side, Stanford is 8-2 with both of its loses coming from ranked opponents — Texas and South Florida. However, the Cardinal are on a hot, four-game winning streak, recently taking down then-No. 7 Tennessee in its previous matchup on Dec. 18. Stanford has also picked up massive wins over ranked Big Ten foes, Maryland and Indiana, while they competed in the Bahamas during Thanksgiving.

There's no doubt that South Carolina's Aliyah Boston is the frontrunner for National Player of the Year. Here's a look at some numbers the double-double machine has put up, so far, in her last four games:  

Aliyah Boston is putting up wild numbers for 🤯

Last four games:
19 PTS | 14 REB | 4 BLK
16 PTS | 16 REB | 7 BLK
21 PTS | 17 REB | 4 BLK
29 PTS | 14 REB | 3 BLK

Don’t sleep.

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport)