SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
South Carolina rolled to an 85-49 win over Purdue.
There were no late-game heroics or double-overtime drama between the two teams this year. South Carolina took control early on, and every time Purdue made any sort of push, South Carolina answered.
The Gamecocks, who were coming off exams and had played just one game in the past two weeks, looked a little rusty to start. But it didn’t last long. They were up just 7-6 when Mikiah Herbert Harrigan sparked a 13-2 run. She scored eight points during the spurt, which put the Gamecocks in control for good.
Employing a full court press and occasional traps, South Carolina was able to speed up Purdue, who prefers to play at a deliberate pace. Purdue had no answer for the press, committing 19 turnovers, which led to 26 points. And when Purdue was able to hold onto the ball, it was stuck with rushed possessions and hurried shots that often felt like turnovers and led to transition opportunities for South Carolina. Purdue shot just 30 percent, and South Carolina had 24 fast break points.
“What we did was we took quick shots,” Purdue coach Sharon Versyp said. “When you take quick shots and there’s long rebounds, they’re a phenomenal one-on-one team. We had one defender back and they pretty much sliced and diced us.”
Although Purdue likes to get the ball inside, the Boilermakers were undersized against South Carolina, and the Gamecocks easily had their way in the paint. They outscored Purdue 50-16 in the paint and had a 56-28 rebounding advantage. South Carolina also blocked 11 shots and held Ae’Rianna Harris, Purdue’s honorable mention all-american, to just 10 points and seven rebounds, although she did have nine blocks.
“We worked on applying full court pressure because Purdue is a team that if you allow them to walk the ball up the floor and go through all their options on offense, they will tire you out,” Dawn Staley said. “We tried to contain it a little bit, speed them up, and not let them get settled.”
Offensively, South Carolina put on a clinic. When it wasn’t getting easy layups in transition, it was getting layups in the halfcourt. South Carolina refused to settle for threes, something that has gotten it in trouble this season. South Carolina was 2-8 from three, and 37-76 overall. Only 33 percent shooting in the fourth quarter in garbage time brought the shooting percentage below 50 (48.7 for the game).
South Carolina got balanced scoring, with six players finishing between 10 and fifteen points. Destanni Henderson led South Carolina with 15, Zia Cooke had 14 (on 7-16 shooting), Tyasha Harris had 14, Herbert Harrigan had 12, LeLe Grissett had 11, and Aliyah Boston had 10. Laeticia Amihere had one point and a career-high nine rebounds. Grissett had a season-high eight rebounds, and Boston and Henderson had six rebounds.
“It’s great,” Staley said. “We have a team in which a lot of people can score if you put them in the right situation.”
Notes:
Purdue’s last basket was wiped off after the game. Initially, the final score was reported as 85-51. … Staley received some flak online for wearing a sweater with a tiger on it. She initially tried to claim it was a lion, but then admitted she wasn’t paying attention. “I didn’t realize what it was. I thought it was festive. It’s Christmas, it’s red, it’s green, I didn’t see that thing (the tiger) right there.” … Sophomore forward Elysa Wesolek was not available to play due to a university rule. She still has one more exam to take and is not allowed to play until she finishes her exams. … Before the game, Tyasha Harris was presented with a game ball in recognition of reaching 1,000 career points. … Melanie Balcomb is Purdue’s senior associate head coach. Balcomb formerly was the head coach at Vanderbilt and was the Director of Offensive Analytics on South Carolina’s 2017 national championship team. She left South Carolina for a spot on the Texas Tech staff, but resigned for personal reasons and took two years off. … Olivia Thompson hit a three late in the game. Victaria Saxton was the only Gamecock that did not score, going 0-4, with two of her shots blocked by Harris. … Boston had four blocks and a career-high four assists, and made a late basket to reach ten points. She has scored in double figures in every game of her career. ... Karissa McLaughlin had a game-high 18 points. … Attendance was 11,306. … South Carolina returns to action Thursday against Duke for the Teddy Bear Toss game.
