Zia Cooke sparked a big second quarter and then South Carolina pulled away from Mississippi State for a 75-52 win.
The game started slowly, with both teams shooting under 30% from the floor in the first quarter. Aliyah Boston committed two quick turnovers and only played three minutes before Dawn Staley took her out of the game. That opened the door for Cooke.
She scored the final basket of the first quarter, and then the first six points of the second to put South Carolina ahead for good. Back in the game, Boston added a putback, and then LeLe Grissett made a pair of layups to cap a 14-0 run that put South Carolina up by double digits. The Bulldogs would later cut the lead to seven, but the Gamecocks stretched it back to 13 by halftime.
“We have to settle down. A lot of times when we take people’s first punch we start punching back and we’re throwing hail marys and we’re just trying to swing,” Dawn Staley said. “We had to settle in. We got some early transition buckets and we found a way to play our style of play for a stretch.”
South Carolina barely shot over 40% from the floor in the game, but hit 11-21 shot attempts in the second quarter. Cooke finished with 19 points, three rebounds, and three assists. It was her most effective game in about three weeks, a stretch that saw her struggle through a major shooting slump. After going three games without scoring in double figures, Cooke has now scored 16, 11, and 19 in her last three games. The key has been cutting down on extra dribbling.
“She’s on her way back. After watching a couple of film sessions and going over some things on the floor with her and her utilizing her ability to get to the basket,” Staley said. “They were more direct. They were getting into the paint and she got to the free throw line.”
The Gamecocks led by double digits throughout the second half, going ahead by as much as 23 in the fourth. Outside of an 18-point third quarter, the Bulldogs were held completely in check by the Gamecocks. They shot just 34%, were 3-14 from three, and had just three second chance points. The Gamecocks controlled the paint on both ends, despite an off game from Boston, holding a 44-28 advantage in points in the paint and plus-13 rebounding advantage. The Bulldogs managed just three second-chance points. Nikki McCray-Pinson said that inside play, and the Gamecocks ability to turn defense into offense, was the difference in the game.
“We threw it up and it was a bad miss which led to an easy run out for them,” she said. “We missed a lot of easy shots around the rim. We’ve got to finish those shots.”
Boston only had six points, all in the second quarter, but also had 12 rebounds and three blocks. Victoria Saxton took advantage of the attention Boston drew to notch her second double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
Grissett had 11 points and five rebounds off the bench. She led significantly improved bench production for South Carolina. The reserves scored 25 points and had 13 rebounds.
“They were huge for us,” Staley said. “I thought they did some things defensively that held serve or (led to) the lead growing.”
Jessika Carter had 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs. Rickea Jackson had 15 points, and got hot in the third quarter trying to cut into the lead.
Notes:
#2 NC State and #3 UConn each lost Thursday night, so if South Carolina wins Sunday it should move up in the polls. … South Carolina shot 19-22 from the foul line. “That’s the first thing our players said when we got in the locker room. We only missed three free throws,” Staley said. … On the other hand, Mississippi State was an abysmal 5-15 from the foul line. … The 23-point margin of victory was the largest by either team in the series in almost exactly nine years, since South Carolina won 69-43 on January 29, 2012. That’s a span of 15 games. … South Carolina's next game is Sunday against Alabama.
