ALBANY, N.Y. – Te-Hina Paopao laid down near midcourt and made a confetti angel, soaking in the moment as she moved to her first Final Four.

This isn’t quite what she came to South Carolina for – that’s still a couple of games away – but for a half hour or so Sunday, she let herself appreciate this one with her teammates. Then she moved onto the line of fans calling for autographs, taking photos as they requested.

South Carolina women's basketball, still undefeated, is headed to Cleveland.

“Not many people in America can say they’ve made a Final Four,” Paopao said. “I’m just really grateful. I’m really excited to get it going. I’ve heard a lot about the Final Four. They’ve been saying it’s fun, so I’m ready to experience it.”

The No. 1-seeded Gamecocks (36-0) took plenty of time on the court to cut down the nets and take in the victory after wrapping up a 70-58 win over No. 3 Oregon State (27-8) on Sunday at MVP Arena. They danced and threw confetti into each other’s photos. Freshman guard MiLaysia Fulwiley signed her shoes for two fans. Long after the buzzer sounded, the players had to be shepherded off the floor.

Most of South Carolina’s lineup has done this before – it’ll be the third trip to the Final Four for Kamilla Cardoso, Bree Hall, Raven Johnson and Sania Feagin. Nobody is as used to the process as coach Dawn Staley, who cut down nets at a regional for the sixth time with the Gamecocks.

That doesn’t make it less special for any of them.

“Each time we get an opportunity to knock down some nets to go to the Final Four is really special because you don't know when it's going to be the last time that you'll do it,” Staley said. “More times than not, there are players on the team that didn't experience it.”

Despite all of South Carolina’s postseason experience, both in celebrating and playing, it was freshman guard Tessa Johnson who carried the Gamecocks across the finish line, tallying seven of her team-high 15 points in the last four minutes of the game.

Johnson was in the stands when South Carolina clinched the national title in 2022 in Minnesota. Two years later, Johnson iced the game to send the Gamecocks back to the Final Four, scoring all but one of the final eight points in the contest after the Beavers cut the lead down to four points.

“It’s crazy, it’s amazing,” Johnson said. “I can’t tell you the feeling, but just the fact that I’m able to be out there with them this time, it means everything.”

It was the first time Johnson had a chance to cut down the nets. When South Carolina won the SEC Tournament, she was back in the locker room celebrating away from the team after she was ejected for leaving the bench during a scuffle against LSU.

So how does it feel for a freshman to finally cut down nets?

“If someone could just cut it for me and I get the net,” said Johnson, who said she’s afraid of heights.

Even for South Carolina’s elders, like junior guard Bree Hall, this win and making the Final Four with this team feels special.

The Gamecocks weren’t supposed to be as good as last season after losing five starters to the WNBA Draft. Even being selected No. 4 in the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Preseason Poll felt generous, Staley said earlier this season, and may have partially just been on the back of the program’s reputation.

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To be 36-0 for the second straight year, though – not even Hall expected it.

“We talk about it a lot,” Hall said. “We thought we were going to be top 10 maybe. … Then we went out against Notre Dame (in the season opener) and it was like, ‘Oh, we’re good. We can do this.’ ”

And here they are, in the Final Four for a fourth consecutive season, where they’ll face No. 3 NC State (31-6) at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on Friday for a spot in the national title game.

“The feeling hasn’t sunk in quite yet, the emotions haven’t sunk in quite yet,” Paopao said. “I just know that we’re headed to Cleveland.”

Evan Gerike covers South Carolina women's basketball for the Greenville News. Email him at egerike@citizentimes.com or follow him on Twitter @EvanGerike.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Making Final Four still feels great for South Carolina women's basketball