Elite Eight matchup includes Middle Georgia trio

When Florida State takes on South Carolina on Monday for a spot in the NCAA women’s basketball Final Four, somebody from Middle Georgia will have a huge role.

Three players from the area will be in uniform when the Gamecocks and Seminoles battle in Stockton, California, in a 9 p.m. matchup on ESPN.

Former Tattnall Square standout Ivey Slaughter is a huge reason Florida State topped Oregon State 66-53 on Saturday.

The senior forward was near a triple-double with 11 points, eight rebounds and nine steals in 31 minutes.

She set a regional round record for steals and helped the Seminoles overcome a 17-point first-quarter deficit.

Nausia Woolfolk, the two-time All-Middle Georgia player of the year from Peach County, was sidelined with a foot injury in mid-January, but returned for the tournament and played four minutes against Western Illinois and one against Missouri.

Every Florida State starter played at least 31 minutes against Oregon State.

On the South Carolina side is another former All-Middle Georgia player of the year, Allisha Gray of Washington County.

Gray’s status was questionable when she suffered a knee injury in the final minutes of the Gamecocks’ 71-68 win over Arizona State on March 19.

Gray, who suffered an ACL injury in high school, was fine.

The injury turned out to be only a hamstring, and Gray scored 19 points and had a team-high eight rebounds in 27 minutes in South Carolina’s 100-58 win Saturday over upstart Quinnipiac.

The winner advances to the Final Four in Dallas, with the semifinals on Friday.

This story was originally published March 26, 2017 at 7:48 PM with the headline "Elite Eight matchup includes Middle Georgia trio."