#2 South Carolina dominated the first half and coasted to a 77-58 win over Auburn.
Facing last place Auburn, who is winless in the SEC, and with the annual showdown against UConn up next, this had the makings of a trap game for South Carolina. Dawn Staley insisted that beating the Tigers was more important than beating the Huskies, and whether she truly believed that or was just trying to make a point, her players got the message.
South Carolina scored the first seven points of the game, forcing a timeout by Terri Williams-Flournoy after just two minutes. Zai Cooke had the hot hand early for the Gamecocks. She hit three shots from behind the arc in less than a minute to put South Carolina up double digits.
Cooke dominated the first quarter, finishing with 14 points on 5-6 shooting (3-4 from three, plus another three-point play), with a rebound and an assist. She outscored Auburn in the first quarter and trailed by just one at halftime.
“She’s pretty darn accurate,” Staley said. “When she gets clean looks like that early in the shot clock, her feet are set, they’re expected three, more times than not she’s very efficient.”
South Carolina led by 20 after the first quarter and 29 at halftime. Auburn shot just 2-20 in the first quarter and 20% for the half.
“I didn’t think we were playing hard in the first half,” Williams-Flournoy said. “We put our heads down, woe is me, we’re getting our butt kicked.”
The lead got as high as 32 in the second half and Staley was able to substitute liberally. Nobody played more than 25 minutes, and Williams-Flournoy joked “She had some people in that I didn’t know who they were.”
But Staley wasn’t amused. She saw Auburn finish the game on a 15-2 run and South Carolina commit 17 turnovers, including six in the fourth quarter.
“That was kind of hard to watch,” Staley said. “We have to do better. We have to play better on both sides of the basketball.”
Auburn shot 53% in the second half and finished the game shooting 35%. Cooke cooled off in the second half and finished with 17 points. Aliyah Boston had 14 points and eight rebounds, while Victaria Saxton (11) and LeLe Grissett (10) also scored in double figures.
The win established a number of milestones. It was Staley’s 148th SEC win, temporarily tying her with Gary Blair for the lead among active coaches (Texas A&M played later Thursday night). It came in just the 200th conference game, meaning Staley has the second-highest winning percentage in league history (.739), behind only Pat Summitt (.874).
The win was the 26th regular season conference win in a row, which is tied for the fifth-longest streak in history. The longest streak is 42, set twice by Tennessee. Overall, it was South Carolina’s 29th win in a row, including last year's SEC Tournament. The longest streak in program history is 30, set from 2015-17.
Notes:
Destanni Henderson only had four points, but had nine assists, four rebounds, and no turnovers. … All 11 Gamecocks played. Only Elysa Wesolek and Olivia Thompson didn’t score. … Last season, Williams-Flournoy finished her postgame press conference by saying, “Tell Dawn to go win that championship.” This season she was asked if South Carolina is the best team in the country. “Oh heck yeah. Dawn is my best friend. You know I’m going to say they’re the best team in the country.” … South Carolina was plus-22 rebounding, plus-16 in points in the paint, and had a 9-0 edge in fast break points. … South Carolina limited Unique Thompson to just 10 points and eight rebounds. … South Carolina’s next game is Monday at Connecticut.
