South Carolina took care of business with a 79-53 win against a tricky Auburn team.
Coming off the emotional and tiring win over Connecticut Monday, with only one day of practice, and against Auburn’s unusual press and zone defense, there were reasons to be concerned about South Carolina’s mindset going into a game against a bad Auburn team.
But there was no Husky hangover for the Gamecocks. They opened the game with five consecutive threes (two each by Zia Cooke and Brea Beal, and one from Mikiah Herbert Harrigan), and the Tigers had to call a timeout down 15-4 just 3:27 into the game.
“It was great,” Beal said. “When everybody’s hitting, it just keeps going down the line. That was a good start to the game.”
With back-to-back threes to open the second quarter, Auburn was able to trim the lead to just three points. The Cooke took over. She buried another three, hit LeLe Grissett for a layup, and hit a step-back three as part of a 13-0 run that put South Carolina back in control. South Carolina added a 7-0 run to finish the quarter and led 42-23 at halftime.
“It wasn’t too crisp,” Cooke said. “We did the best we could, we had a long week so we tried to recover from that and we got the job done.”
South Carolina made a point in the third quarter to get the ball in the paint. It paid off, as all five baskets during a 10-0 run came in the lane. Tyasha Harris then scored eight points during a 10-2 run to end the quarter and give South Carolina a 28 point lead.That was its largest of the game, and both teams ran out the fourth quarter.
“Our young ladies did a very good job of competing,” Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy said. “There were moments during the game when South Carolina went on their runs, but South Carolina is the number one team in the country, so they should go on runs.”
Harris finished with 12 points, five assists, three rebounds, and for the second game in a row, no turnovers. She was part of a balanced effort that saw five Gamecocks score in double figures, and nine players play at least 15 minutes. Cooke and Boston each scored 13 points, Herbert Harrigan had 11, and Grissett notched 11. Victaria Saxton led the Gamecocks with eight rebounds, along with four points and a career-high four blocks.
“It’s tough to come back from an emotional game like (Connecticut) no matter how much you try to block it out,” Dawn Staley said. “They felt it. We didn’t talk about it as a team. I just mentioned it to them afterwards.
“It was hard to get back up for them, but they found a way.”
South Carolina shot 49 percent from the floor and was 10-19 from three. They held Auburn to 34 percent shooting, forced 15 turnovers, and were plus-five rebounding.
Auburn’s Unique Thompson entered the game averaging 16.6 points and 12.2 rebounds per game and leading the nation with 19 double-doubles. She gave Boston some trouble early, but in the second half was held in check by South Carolina. Boston got some easy baskets and then Saxton played strong defense. Thompson finished with just 12 points and eight rebounds, just the third time this season she failed to record a double-double, and the first time she has been held to single digit rebounds.
“We did a really good job on Unique Thompson, in particular Victaria. Victaria did an excellent job,” Staley said. “We were able to hold her in the (last) three quarters of the game and that was key, because she’s a big part of what they do and their success.”
Notes:
For Valentine’s Eve, the Carolina Girls did their couple’s dance at halftime, and it ended with a proposal. She said yes. … Williams-Flournoy finished her postgame press conference and the said, “Tell Dawn to go win that championship. Tell her I said so.” … Laeticia Amihere saw her first action in three games after travelling to Belgium for the Olympic qualifying tournament with Team Canada. She looked a bit rusty, and finished with four points, four rebounds, and a block. … South Carolina struggled from the foul line, going just 11-16. … Olivia Thompson and Elysa Wesolek played late, and were the only two Gamecocks that didn’t score. … Robyn Benton led Auburn with 15 points. … Announced attendance was 11,417. … South Carolina’s next game is Monday against Vanderbilt.
