South Carolina dominated Vanderbilt from the opening tip and cruised to a 95-44 win
South Carolina sprinted out to a 9-2 lead and Vanderbilt called timeout just 2:35 into the game. The Commodores responded with an 8-4 spurt, and for a minute or two, it looked like they might give South Carolina a game. Hope was fleeting, and South Carolina scored the final 17 points of the first quarter to lead by 20.
It ended up being a 28-2 Gamecock run during which the Commodores shot 1-14 (Mariella Fasoula had the only basket) and the Gamecocks shot 10-15. The lead grew to 30 in the second quarter, 40 in the third quarter, and finally 50 in the fourth, even after the Gamecocks emptied the bench. The 51-point margin of victory is the second time this season the Gamecocks have beaten an SEC opponent by at least 50 (55 against Ole Miss), and they managed to build on a 36-point win over Vanderbilt in the first meeting.
“They just keep getting better as the season goes on,” Vanderbilt coach Stephanie White said. “Their transition game off of makes and misses was incredible. The way they shared the basketball was huge. (...) I feel like they’re an even better defensive team than they were. I felt like that when I was watching the UConn game. They’re going to another level on the defensive end of the floor.”
South Carolina shot 51 percent for the game, including 32 percent from three. South Carolina held Vanderbilt to just 28 percent shooting, was plus-19 rebounding, and turned the ball over just 10 times, while getting 15 points off 15 Vanderbilt turnovers.
“I thought this was a complete game,” Dawn Staley said. “I didn’t think we had too many let downs.”
South Carolina had the luxury of resting its starters for much of the second half. None of the starters played more than Brea Beal’s 22 minutes. Destanni Henderson played the most, at 31 minutes. Henderson was one of five Gamecocks in double figures scoring. She had 12 points, seven rebounds, and six assists.
“I just had to facilitate and get everybody involved and keep pushing the tempo,” Henderson said. “The more people who are able to be in rhythm can hit down shots. I had to keep that motivation for them.”
LeLe Grissett led all scorers with 14 points and added three blocks. Aliyah Boston had 12 points, 14 rebounds, two assists, and two blocks. Zia Cooke had 10 points, and Tyasha Harris had 12 points, five assists and three rebounds in just 16 minutes. Harris went to the locker room late in the second quarter and then again in the third, and had a wrap on her leg.
“I just got a little knee to the thigh,” she said. “A little stinger.”
South Carolina was also able to play Laeticia Amihere 14 minutes, valuable playing time as she shakes off the rust from her week with Team Canada. Amihere had a solid game and finished with nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks, and two steals.
With the win, South Carolina’s magic number is now two. They need just two more wins to clinch the SEC regular season championship for the fifth time in program history, and first since 2017. The Gamecocks will have a chance to do that before the end of the week, with LSU and a visit to Kentucky up next. A third win would clinch the title outright. Harris confirmed she wants to reclaim the championship for South Carolina, and Staley has given in and allowed associate head coach Lisa Boyer to address the situation.
“I don’t mention but Coach Boyer’s got it up on the board in the locker room,” Staley said. “She’s changing numbers as we go along. It’s something that we want to do and we’re close to it. It’s almost like when you’re watching tennis and they’re close to match point and you can see players tense up and they lose their footing somewhat. I don’t want that to be our team. I want to be as close to who we are and who we’ve been all season long throughout our remaining games. If we’re that, it will be.
But Staley’s not taking down the countdown.
“I’m not touching it,” she said. “We argue enough. I don’t want to argue about that.”
Notes:
Before the game a moment of silence was held for Faye Swetlik. Staley said they hoped to be able to do more for the family at some point. … A mistake in the initial posted starting lineups had Victaria Saxton starting in place of Aliyah Boston, which would have been the first change in the starting lineup this season. The mistake had members of the media scrambling to figure out why for about three minutes until the mistake was corrected. … Elysa Wesolek scored five points and played a career-high 12 minutes. … Olivia Thompson went 0-6, including 0-5 from three, in ten minutes. As the clock wound down, her teammates repeatedly fed her the ball, but nothing fell. ...Fasoula was the only Commodore in double figures with 11. … Vanderbilt was without leading scorer Koi Love due to a violation of team rules. … Vanderbilt was 0-2 from three and 4-6 from the line. … South Carolina was 17-25 from the line. … Announced attendance was 11,249. … South Carolina’s next game is Thursday against LSU.
