Twin towers dominate as Gamecocks notch second win
Fourth-ranked South Carolina was letting Hampton cut to the basket with sparse resistance and was struggling to run its offense. A not-so-gentle reminder that the Gamecocks had Alaina Coates and A’ja Wilson did its job.
The two dominated the second quarter as USC scuttled the Lady Pirates 92-38 on Sunday in the first of three games in three days. Coates scored 10 straight points in the second on her way to 28 for the game, while Wilson had 20 and tied a school record for single-game free-throw percentage (1.000).
“She definitely told us we needed to buckle down,” Coates said of coach Dawn Staley’s instructions after the first. “We didn’t start off the game the way we wanted to. She basically was like, ‘Get your butts in gear!’ ”
With offense and defense out of sync in the first quarter, USC limped to a 21-15 lead. The Pirates weren’t afraid of the Gamecocks’ hulking posts and went right into the paint, but fouls were beginning to mount.
Hampton (0-4) had two players 6-foot-1 or taller to challenge Coates and Wilson and each was in foul trouble. Staley pointed that out between quarters.
“I was pretty frustrated with our team,” she said. “We just didn’t impose our will from a defensive standpoint. Defense and rebounding are two areas which you can control. I just thought that was disgraceful for the team that we put on the floor.”
The Gamecocks (2-0) embarked on a 32-11 run to close the half, Wilson deflecting shots on the perimeter and inside while Coates relentlessly scored. The smoke cleared and USC was able to fine-tune for the duration.
Wilson scored 14 from the line, tying a school record for percentage (set in 1983 and matched in 1996, and besting those 12-for-12 marks by two) but was a mere 3-of-8 from the field. Yet she and Coates were so dominant that USC wasn’t affected by a scant three points from Kaela Davis, who scored 37 in the season-opener.
“It’s good to know my guards are looking for me and there’s a huge mismatch in the paint,” said Coates, who was one short of tying her career-high in points.
Allisha Gray added to her “silent assassin” personality by scoring 16 points, after 24 in the opening game. Staley said that Gray will wind up being the Gamecocks’ most indispensable player, and if the spotlight doesn’t find her, the junior guard is quite comfortable with it.
Hampton only scored 12 points in the second half. The Gamecocks were able to rest their starters for most of the fourth quarter and get ready for Maine on Monday, then St. Peter’s on Tuesday.
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USC | 21 | 32 | 19 | 20 | — | 92 |
Hampton | 15 | 11 | 8 | 4 | — | 38 |
South Carolina (2-0)—Coates 12-16 4-7 28, Wilson 3-8 14-14 20, Gray 4-9 6-7 16, Herbert Harrigan 4-9 0-0 8, Cuevas-Moore 1-5 1-2 4, Davis 1-3 2-3 4, Patrick 1-5 1-2 4, Davis 1-9 0-0 3, Harris 1-4 0-0 3, Cliney 1-2 0-0 2, Bradshaw 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 29-70 28-35 92.
Hampton (0-4)—Tate-DeFreitas 3-15 3-6 10, Brown 4-13 0-0 9, Strothers 3-7 1-2 9, Bates 1-2 2-2 4, Lupoe 2-3 0-0 4, Bankhead 1-6 0-0 2, Finney-Smith 0-3 0-0 0, Gilbeaux 0-1 0-0 0, Green 0-0 0-0 0, James 0-0 0-0 0, Sayle 0-0 0-0 0, Sealey 0-1 0-0 0, White 0-4 0-2 0, Willis 0-3 0-0 0, Totals 14-58 6-12 38.
3-Point Goals—South Carolina 6-21 (Gray 2-7, Cuevas-Moore 1-2, Davis 1-5, Harris 1-3, Patrick 1-3, Davis 0-1), Hampton 4-15 (Strothers 2-3, Brown 1-4, Tate-DeFreitas 1-3, Finney-Smith 0-1, Sealey 0-1, White 0-1, Willis 0-2). Assists—South Carolina 19 (Davis 5), Hampton 9 (Tate-DeFreitas 5). Fouled Out—Hampton Finney-Smith, Lupoe. Rebounds—South Carolina 50 (Coates 16), Hampton 36 (Brown 9). Total Fouls—South Carolina 12, Hampton 26. A—7,688.
MAINE (2-2) at NO. 4 SOUTH CAROLINA (2-0)
When: 7 p.m. Monday
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia
TV: SEC Network Plus
Radio: 107.5 FM
Maine’s probable starters: G Sigi Koizar 5-8 Sr. (13.3 ppg, 3.8 rpg); G Tanesha Sutton 5-10 So. (9.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg); G Blanca Millan 5-11 Fr. (9.5 ppg, 1.0 rpg); G Naira Caceres 6-0 Fr. (4.3 ppg, 6.5 rpg); F Laia Sole 6-2 Fr. (12.8 ppg, 3.5 rpg)
South Carolina’s probable starters: G Bianca Cuevas-Moore 5-6 Jr. (6.5 ppg, 1.5 rpg); G Allisha Gray 6-0 Jr. (20.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg); G Kaela Davis 6-2 Jr. (20.0 ppg, 8.5 rpg); F A’ja Wilson 6-5 Jr. (12.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg); C Alaina Coates 6-4 Sr. (19.0 ppg, 14.5 rpg)
Next game: South Carolina hosts St. Peter’s at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
This story was originally published November 20, 2016 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Twin towers dominate as Gamecocks notch second win."