Why Dawn Staley said she didn’t have a problem with officials in South Carolina’s Sweet 16 win.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. − South Carolina women’s basketball escaped the Sweet 16 with a 71-67 win over No. 4 seed Maryland and advanced to its fifth straight Elite Eight, but it wasn’t easy for the defending champions.

The No. 1 seed Gamecocks (33-3) and the Terps (25-8) battled for fourth quarters in Legacy Arena and though the game wasn’t unusually physical, it had many breaks in play.

A total of 18 fouls were called on South Carolina, which averages 13.3 per game, and 10 on Maryland. After the win, coach Dawn Staley was asked about her “animated” conversations with the refs at points throughout the game and her opinion on the refs on Friday as a whole.

“The officials have a hard job,” Staley said. “They have a really hard job. I don’t have thick enough skin to do their job. The animation was probably more we having a jokingly conversation rather than a heated conversation. They’re really good at just communicating out there on the floor and that’s why they’re officiating in the Sweet 16, and probably some of them on their way to the Final Four, because they’re able to handle those type situations, communicate with the coaches, in a way that really deescalates the situation.”

South Carolina guard Te-Hina Paopao was called for her second foul with two minutes left in the first quarter.

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“It definitely took us out of rhythm,” Paopao said. “For both teams, not just our team but for the other team as well … you can’t control the whistle, what they’re thinking and I thought we did a pretty good battling through that. Sunday (vs Duke in Elite Eight) we have to do a better job of playing physical without fouling and I just hope they let us play on Sunday because I know it’s going to be a physical and aggressive game.”

Maryland shot 16 free throws in the first half, which kickstarted the slower pace of the game.

Early in the fourth, South Carolina’s MiLaysia Fulwiley scored a layup then as she was turning to run back on defense, caught an elbow from a Maryland player. The crowd immediately reacted, and only got louder once the replay came up on the big screen. Staley stayed very close to the refs.

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After three minutes of looking at the monitor, the refs didn’t call a foul.

When the clock hit 33.3 seconds left in the game, it was 6:50 p.m. but the game wasn’t officially called as over until 7:11. The buzzer initially hit 0.0 but one ref raised her fist into the hand, signaling that a foul was called. Another review ensued which resulted in a foul called on Fulwiley with .4 seconds left.

“(The refs) have to do that,” Staley said. “They’re being graded. They can’t just say OK it’s .5, the game is in hand. They can’t do that. Because ignoring those situations will decrease their opportunity to go further in the NCAA Tournament.”