Five Gamecocks reach double figures as USC cruises to first conference road win
It wasn’t the best they’ve played all year, but South Carolina women’s basketball (13-1, 2-0 SEC) went on the road and came away with a comfortable win over Ole Miss on Thursday night, beating the Rebels 88-62 behind a balanced offensive attack.
Leading the way, of course, was senior forward A’ja Wilson, who put up 25 points, 15 rebounds and three assists over 25 minutes. Most of her time on the bench came in the second quarter, after she collected six points and seven rebounds in the first period before committing two quick fouls early on in the second and sat with a little over seven minutes left in the half. For the rest of the quarter, Ole Miss closed to within one point at 24-23, before USC went on an 11-5 run to close out the period.
Wilson also continued her assault on South Carolina’s record book. Late in the first quarter, she swatted away a shot from Bree Glover for the 300th block of her collegiate career. Later, at the beginning of the third quarter, Wilson reached her 11th double-double of the season and 41st of her career, tying Gamecock legend Katrina Anderson for fifth all-time in program history. And in the fourth quarter, she passed Brantley Southers for third place on the school’s career scoring list.
Joining Wilson in double figures, junior guard Doniyah Cliney put up 14 points, five rebounds and four assists, redshirt junior Alexis Jennings collected 14 points, nine rebounds and three assists, sophomore guard Victoria Patrick had a a career-high 11 points and sophomore guard Tyasha Harris recorded 10 points and six assists.
Harris, however, left the game early after a taking a hard fall in the fourth quarter and did not return. She has been nursing a hand injury for several games, coach Dawn Staley said before the game, but it is unclear whether her absence was related to that or some new injury.
Redshirt senior Lindsey Spann once again started the game on the bench as she works her way back from a sprained knee. She finished the game with eight points, one rebound, one assist and two turnovers, missing her first three 3-point attempts before making two in a row.
Ole Miss was led by junior guard Madinah Muhammad, who led all scorers with 29 points but needed 22 field goal attempts to get there. On the night, the Rebels shot 38.6 percent from the field and were outrebounded 44-30.
South Carolina now travels to Columbia, Missouri, to face No. 15 Missouri on Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for 2 p.m.
This story was originally published January 4, 2018 at 8:51 PM with the headline "Five Gamecocks reach double figures as USC cruises to first conference road win."