GREENSBORO, N.C. -- At the end of their third straight NCAA tournament upset victory, Creighton women's basketball players rushed over to their cheering section across the court, shouting, "Elite Eight!" and raising their hands in triumph.
Parents wiped tears from their eyes. One player jumped into the stands.
This is what it looks like when a No. 10 seed continues its historic run in the NCAA tournament.
The Bluejays defeated No. 3 seed Iowa State 76-68 in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, becoming just the fourth double-digit seed to make it to the Elite Eight in the women's tournament. Creighton will face No. 1 South Carolina on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four.
To put into further perspective how unlikely their run is, ESPN's BPI gave Creighton a 6% chance to make the Elite Eight entering the tournament.
Morgan Maly, who led the way with a career-high 21 points off the bench, said she could only think about how surreal the moment was as the final seconds ticked off.
"The past two weeks hasn't felt real, but it's been amazing," Maly said.
Perhaps that is because Creighton came into the NCAA tournament not only as a double-digit seed, but off a loss in its one and only Big East tournament game. The opening round NCAA tournament win over Colorado was nice, but the eye-opener came in the next game -- a stunning 64-62 victory over No. 2 seed Iowa in front of 15,000 cheering Iowa fans.
Perhaps the belief and confidence were there all along, but a victory like that helped propel Creighton forward. Its unique offense -- including a rotation that relies heavily on bench play -- has allowed this team to advance further than any other in school history.
"I've enjoyed this team so much," Creighton coach Jim Flanery said. "I told them, you want to keep advancing because that's the goal, but I also want to just keep coaching this team. This team just continues to amaze me, and we're so proud of how they've grown, what kind of fight they have and how they play for each other."
They did it again on Friday night. Creighton and Iowa State play similar styles, so it was not a shock when the two teams went into halftime tied at 30. But in the second half, the Bluejays relied on their 3-point prowess to put some distance between themselves and the Cyclones, who struggled to make their shots.
Still, Iowa State made a late run and closed the gap to four with 2:11 remaining. From there, Creighton made eight free throws, including six from senior Tatum Rembao. Afterward, her mother in the stands kept saying it felt like a fairy tale, a Cinderella story.
"We came into it thinking we've got a good chance to play on Sunday," Creighton athletic director Marcus Blossom told ESPN. "So did Jim. I asked Jim two days ago and he said, 'I'm feeling pretty good.' I feel happy for them, they worked so hard, they play so well together. It's good for women's basketball to get attention."