#4 South Carolina controlled the fourth quarter to earn a 69-65 come-from-behind win over LSU.
The game was a contrast in styles. LSU wants to play a slow, deliberate pace that allows the Tigers to set their zone defense and limit possessions. South Carolina wants to push the tempo at every opportunity and score in transition.
LSU easily got its way in the first half, when the Tigers took a 25-23 into halftime. At halftime, Staley made her first adjustment, moving Zia Cooke to the point and switching Destanni Henderson to the wing where she could be more of a scoring threat. South Carolina was able to speed the game up a little in the third quarter, but LSU matched bucket-for-bucket and still led by two.
Still needing to find a spark, Staley made the big adjustment. She put in guard LeLe Grissett for power forward Victaria Saxton The switch made South Carolina smaller, but also more versatile and faster in the open court. It worked fantastically.
“LSU wanted to take the air of the ball and walk the ball up and pick us apart on the defensive side of the ball,” Staley said. “We needed to pick the pace up, make them play faster and maybe turn them over and disrupt the pace they wanted to play. There was a huge benefit of putting LeLe in there defensively, but her runouts and made layups really gave us the separation we needed to win the game.”
Grissett had eight points and three assists in the fourth quarter. All four of her baskets came in transition, and she fed Cooke for another transition layup. After scoring just 12 fast break points in the first three quarters, South Carolina scored 18 in the fourth quarter.
“They’re pretty fast, especially when you have Destanni Henderson going at a hundred miles an hour,” LSU’s Khayla Pointer said. “When Grissett comes in the game it seems like she gets down there just as fast as Henderson does.”
A 9-0 run early in the fourth erased a three-point deficit, and then a 10-2 run late put the game out of reach.
South Carolina got good games from its starters. Even Saxton was productive in limited minutes, with four points and five rebounds. Brea Beal had 10 points, four rebounds, and four assists. Cooke had 11 points, and Henderson had 16 points, five rebounds, and eight assists while making South Carolina’s only two three-pointers. But, as usual, it was Aliyah Boston who set the tone. She led all players with 20 points and 14 rebounds in a season-high 36 minutes. Even with the zone, LSU had no answer for Boston.
“You can’t keep a good player down,” Nikki Fargas said. “She’s going to find a way to get her numbers because she’s a competitor.”
Fargas was frustrated that the Tigers weren't able to build a bigger lead in the first half. Like Boston, she knew the rest of the Gamecock offense would get going eventually. The Gamecocks were dismal from three and the foul line all game, but especially in the first half. The Gamecocks were just 2-15 from three, despite almost all clean open looks, and 13-25 from the foul line, despite being free from defense. If the Gamecocks had made a normal percentage of those open shots, the game wouldn’t have been nearly so close.
“I thought we took the shots that were there,” Staley said. “We had some ball movement. If we do have that and our post players are touching the ball and it’s kicked out and around the perimeter, and there’s some rhythm to it, shoot it.”
Notes:
The game was part of the annual “We Back Pat” week. It was the third We Back Pat game for South Carolina. Both teams wore We Back Pat T-shirts for the tenth anniversary of the effort to raise money and awareness for the fight against Alzheimer’s disease. … Outside of Grissett, South Carolina got almost nothing from its bench. Laeticia Amihere and Destiny Littleton were both scoreless in seven minutes, and Eniya Russell only played one minute. … South Carolina finished plus-six rebounding and had a 48-32 edge in points in the paint. … Pointer led LSU with 18 points, and Tiara Young had 16. … South Carolina’s next game is Thursday at Mississippi State.
