WBB: #1 South Carolina tames Clemson
#1 South Carolina used a three-point barrage to overcome an ugly first half and beat Clemson 76-45.
The win was South Carolina’s 11th in a row over Clemson and tied the all-time series between the rivals at 33-33. The average margin of victory during the win streak was 26.1 points entering Wednesday night's game, but for a while it looked like the teams would be lucky to score 26.
The first half was dominated by fouls, missed shots, and more fouls. Each team was called for 13 team fouls, and key players like Zia Cooke and Aliyah Boston spent most of the half on the bench with two fouls. Beginning with a Destanni Henderson three near the end of the first quarter, the Gamecocks scored ten unanswered over a five minute period. They held the Tigers without a field goal in the second quarter and rode that “run” to a 27-17 halftime lead.
“We weren’t playing our style of play. We were prepared for their style of play but we just didn’t execute,” Dawn Staley said. “We played faster than we needed to play, too fast so we couldn’t see the floor. It led to some real ugly basketball.”
South Carolina hit four of its first five threes to start the third quarter (and the lone miss led to a make). The onslaught was part of an 18-6 spurt that got South Carolina back in its groove and in control.
“There were some things early in the second half where we broke down in communication and had some poor closeouts,” Amanda Butler said. “South Carolina came out in the second half and raised their level.”
South Carolina shot just under 60% in the second half, and cut down on turnovers from 13 to four. Boston and Cooke got going - Boston scored to start the third and then hit a three, and Cooke hit back-to-back threes - and then Henderson finished things off.
“I definitely felt that burst of energy,” Boston said. “In the first half I didn’t get to do a lot.”
Boston finished with 11 points, her first double figure scoring game of the season, and Cooke had 13 in just 17 minutes. Henderson led all scorers with 16 points, while adding six assists, five rebounds, and no turnovers in the second half.
“We just have to remain confident, within each other, within ourselves, having a flow with each other and doing everything coach wants us to do,” Cooke said.
While South Carolina got in gear in the second half, Clemson never did. Clemson was held under 50 points for the eighth time in the 11-game winning streak, and the Tigers shot just 29.1%.
Laeticia Amihere had a strong game with 10 points, six rebounds, and two blocks, and even ran point for a while in the second quarter.
Notes:
Ashlyn Watkins, who committed to South Carolina earlier Wednesday, was shown on the video board and received a nice ovation. … LeLe Grissett did not play due to her foot injury. Raven Johnson was at the game on crutches and wearing a bulky brace, but that did not stop her from trying to dance during pregame warmups. … Saniya Rivers warmed up (including several dunk attempts), but then was not in uniform. Rivers has had an undisclosed illness. Staley expects RIvers to make her debut this weekend. “She should be ready to go on Saturday barring a (not so good) practice on Friday,” Staley said. … South Carolina was 16-25 from the foul line. … Three different Tigers fouled out. … Staley called a timeout to get the final shot of the first half and drew up a play that included Olivia Thompson. Unfortunately the play never evolved as Amihere was called for a charge and Thompson was immediately subbed out. … Announced attendance was 13,363, the most in the country so far this year. … South Carolina’s next game is Saturday against Buffalo in the first round of the Battle 4 Atlantis.
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