MiLaysia Fulwiley scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 2:22 left, and Chloe Kitts added 15 points and 11 rebounds to help No. 1 seed South Carolina beat fourth-seeded Maryland 71-67 on Friday in the Sweet 16 of the women’s NCAA Tournament in Birmingham, Ala.

The defending national champion Gamecocks went back-and-forth with the Terrapins all game before finally doing enough in the final few minutes to put the Birmingham 2 Regional game away.

South Carolina will face Duke in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The Blue Devils beat Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina 47-38 earlier Friday.

Dawn Staley’s team trailed 60-59 with 3:25 left before holding Maryland without a point over the next three minutes. Fulwiley’s layup began the 7-0 run that gave the Gamecocks (33-3) just enough of a cushion.

Kitts added three free throws during the spurt and Fulwiley scored on a coast-to-coast drive.

The Gamecocks were leading 66-60 with 25 seconds left when Saylor Poffenbarger ended Maryland’s scoring drought with a 3-pointer.

But the Terps couldn’t get closer as the Gamecocks made five of six free throws down the stretch, including two by Fulwiley with 10.9 seconds left that made it 71-65.

Kaylene Smikle scored 17 points to lead Maryland (25-8) before fouling out.

Duke 47, North Carolina 38: Oluchi Okananwa had her third double-double of the season and Duke beat Atlantic Coast Conference rival North Carolina 47-38 in a grind-it-out defensive battle, sending the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight.

The second-seeded Blue Devils climbed out of an early 11-0 to advance to the 12th regional final in program history and first since 2013.

“I’ll be honest. I was a little worried down 11-0 and we hadn’t scored at all in the game,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said. “But I don’t think there’s ever been a shutout. I felt pretty good we could score at some point.”

That didn’t come until the four-minute mark of the first, when Jordan Wood drew a foul and made one of two free throws.

Okananwa, a reserve, scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half and had 10 rebounds. Duke got 26 points from its bench compared to North Carolina’s six in the Birmingham 2 Regional game.

Ashlon Jackson finished with 10 points, and Toby Fournier, Duke’s leading scorer this season who was sidelined for the Blue Devils’ second-round win over Oregon with an illness, was held to three points.

Fifth-year senior Alyssa Ustby had nine points on 3-of-10 shooting for the third-seeded Tar Heels, who were seeking their first Elite Eight appearance since 2014. Led by Ustby, who averaged 10.9 points per game, the Tar Heels had reached their second Sweet 16 in the past four years.

“Sitting up here after a loss is disappointing,” North Carolina coach Courtney Banghart said, “especially when you hold your third straight tournament team below 50 points and you don’t win the game.”

Neither team shot the ball well. The 85 points were the fewest combined ever in a regional semifinal. Duke shot 31% after missing its first nine attempts. North Carolina shot 28% from the field.

The last time a team won in the women’s tournament with just 47 points was in the 2008 Final Four when Tennessee beat LSU 47-46. That was also the previous lowest-scoring game in the Sweet 16 or later.

Lawson said it was exactly the type of game you would expect from rivals that are so familiar with each other. It was their third meeting of the season. They last faced each other less than a month ago, with North Carolina winning 68-52 on Duke’s home floor.

Spokane 1 Regional

Aneesah Morrow had 30 points and 19 rebounds, Kailyn Gilbert had a critical block that set up Mikaylah Williams’ go-ahead layup with 1:07 remaining, and No. 3 seed LSU rallied past second-seeded N.C. State 80-73 in a tense regional semifinal.

The Wolfpack led 69-64 with 4:29 left before LSU began to surge, led by Williams, who scored 10 points in the fourth quarter. After Gilbert blocked a layup attempt by N.C. State’s Zoe Brooks, Williams converted on the other end to make it 74-73 — part of a game-closing 10-0 run for the Tigers (31-5).

LSU, which won the national title two years ago for coach Kim Mulkey, reached the Elite Eight for the third consecutive season and will face top-seeded UCLA on Sunday.