Bench comes up big to power South Carolina women to gritty win over Georgia
South Carolina women’s basketball got a first-rate performance from its second unit, powering the Gamecocks to a 65-57 win over Georgia at Colonial Life Arena on Thursday night.
USC (18-6, 10-1 SEC) went with its usual starting lineup of junior Tyasha Harris, senior Bianca Cuevas-Moore, junior Te’a Cooper, senior Alexis Jennings and junior Mikiah Herbert Harrigan to begin against the Lady Bulldogs, but after less than two minutes of play, coach Dawn Staley yanked all five in favor of her backups.
Staley’s ire was understandable — UGA seized an early 5-0 lead with three offensive rebounds, and the starters simply seemed sluggish.
“I saw us give up a lot of offensive rebounds. I saw us give up a lot of hustle plays. And I’m just through giving anybody, starters or anybody else, the benefit of the doubt,” Staley said of the move. “We have a job to do. You have to do your job. If you don’t do your job in the beginning, we can’t wait for you to warm up. We’re going to sub because we got a deep bench. Some of them have been waiting in the wings to play.”
It worked. The second group of freshman Destanni Henderson, freshman Victaria Saxton, senior Donyiah Cliney, sophomore Bianca Jackson and sophomore LaDazhia Williams blazed out to a 15-2 run. Henderson in particular seemed to have no trouble driving and scoring at will.
“We worked on it in practice, just rotating in with different people,” Cliney said. “Coach Staley always tells us to stay ready for when our number is called. We knew that our starting five wasn’t starting off the game right, so we had to come in and pick them up.”
After one quarter, the Gamecocks led 19-14 with 13 bench points.
USC’s starters returned for the second quarter with the exception of Cuevas-Moore but didn’t look much better — they wound up shooting 33 percent from the floor and turning the ball over seven times in the period. Henderson didn’t play at all as the lead narrowed slightly to 29-25.
Georgia’s offense was mostly unable to take advantage of USC’s struggles though, shooting just 36 percent in the first half.
Carolina’s backups returned to start the second half and immediately embarked on an 8-2 run to put the lead at nine at one point. However, the Lady Bulldogs rallied by pounding the ball inside and grabbing four offensive boards before the third quarter media timeout, leading Staley to put several starters back in.
From there, the two teams went back and forth at a frantic pace, with neither defense having much success stopping drives to the basket. Both teams shot above 50 percent for most of the third quarter, and Georgia guard Taja Cole in particular shredded the Gamecock defense.
Her success continued in the fourth quarter, as she contributed four points in an 8-0 run to tie the game with 6:49 left to play. Shortly after that, Henderson and Saxton re-entered the game. With them on the floor the rest of the way, the Gamecocks went on a 12-4 run to seal the win.
“I’m still learning to come off the bench,” Henderson said. “You gotta be ready, you gotta have some type of mental preparedness to come off the bench.”
Saxton pulled down six rebounds, including four in the final stretch, and continues to elevate herself as a crucial role player for the Gamecocks, Staley said.
“Victaria pursues the ball. She’s not afraid to get hit. She’s not afraid to make a mistake. What she gives us is energy, extra possessions and she knows exactly what’s supposed to take place out there,” Staley said.
Star of the game: The difference when Henderson was on the floor was simply undeniable. She led the team with 14 points and a positive 19 plus/minus, and added four rebounds and three assists as well.
“It’s all coming together for her,” Staley said. “She’s playing more complete with more experience that she’s getting.”
Stat of the game: South Carolina’s 41 points off the bench dwarfed Georgia’s 15.
Play of the game: With the game tied midway through the fourth quarter, Doniyah Cliney put her head down, drove the lane and put up what at first seemed to be an ill-advised shot that somehow rolled in to restore the lead, which the Gamecocks never gave back.
It was part of an all-around solid night for the senior after she didn’t play at all against UConn. In total, she had 12 points and three rebounds and was crucial down the stretch, doing exactly what Staley wanted and needed.
“Doniyah brought just experience. She picked and chose some spots where she was aggressive offensively, she rebounded the basketball for us, and she was solid defensively. And that’s all we want. We don’t want anyone having to think they have to play spectacular basketball. We have to have players that make basketball plays,” Staley said.
NEXT
South Carolina travels to Florida on Sunday to face the Gators, who are in second-to-last place in the SEC. The game will be streamed online on SEC Network Plus starting at 2 p.m.
This story was originally published February 14, 2019 at 8:53 PM.
