**Zia Cooke had the hot hand outside** **with 5-three pointers (Photo by Justin Tafoya/NCAA Photos via Getty Images)**

USC (25-4) earned a fifth trip to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament Sunday afternoon with a 76-65 win over Georgia Tech in San Antonio. The Gamecocks are the #1 seed in their region and will play either Texas or Maryland Tuesday night for a spot in the Final Four.

The Gamecocks led by just two in the early moments of the third quarter then went on a 23-8 run for a 62-45 lead. Tech, however, did not go away quietly and cut the lead to 6 with 4:04 left. But the Gamecocks scored the next 5 points and were home free from there.

The Gamecocks shot 56%, including 8-14 from three, and also outscored the Yellow Jackets 44-32 in the paint. They also forced 12 turnovers they converted to 22 points.

Zia Cooke hit 5 of the three-pointers to lead USC with 17 points. Laeticia Amihere added 15 points off the bench along with 7 rebounds. She was part of a 21-3 advantage for USC in bench scoring. Leading scorer Aliyah Boston, who did not score in the first half, finished with 9 points and 5 rebounds.