Desperate late rally not enough as South Carolina falls to Mississippi State
In an intense back-and-forth battle, No. 14 South Carolina women’s basketball sprinted out to a authoritative early lead over rival Mississippi State, gave it all away in a poor third quarter, then stormed back to within two points in the last minute, only to lose, 68-64.
At one point, the Gamecocks (21-8, 13-3 SEC) led the Bulldogs (27-2, 15-1) by 10 points in the second quarter and had the large crowd at Colonial Life Arena at full volume, as No. 5 MSU and star player Teaira McCowan seemed on their heels and taken aback by USC’s intensity.
Things changed completely in the third quarter, though, as MSU outscored Carolina 19-8, holding coach Dawn Staley’s team to its lowest point total in SEC play all year.
“The third quarter was probably one that I have to take a huge responsibility on,” Staley said. “I thought we could take advantage of some matchups, and I just confused our players. Just basically comes down to that. It was plays that we’ve run, but people in different positions, and they got a little confused with it.:
McCowan, after recording just four points and six rebounds in the first half, had seven points and eight boards in the third quarter alone.
“She was able to go to her go-to, the drop step, easy layup. We had to do a better job of boxing her out,” junior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan said of McCowan.
Mississippi State coach Vic Schaefer was called for a technical foul after vigorously disputing a foul call less than 70 seconds into the quarter, but senior guard Bianca Cuevas-Moore missed both free throws, and the technical seemed to invigorate the Bulldogs, who led by 11 points at their peak.
“I just wanted them to know, ‘You know what? I’ve had enough. I’m ready to fight. Who’s with me?’ And I think they got it, and at that point that’s just where I was and I think our kids were too, we were kinda getting back into it at that moment,” Schaefer said.
However, Mississippi State’s momentum stalled in the final 10 minutes as the Bulldogs struggled to connect from the floor, shooting 27.8 percent, and the Gamecock offense regained momentum.
Junior guard Tyasha Harris started the rally with a deep 3-pointer with 3:28 left to play. That kicked off a 9-2 run that culminated in Harris swiping a steal off an inbounds pass and going coast-to-coast for the layup, putting South Carolina down 66-64 with 42 seconds to play.
After that, South Carolina fouled MSU and got a crucial miss, but McCowan strong-armed her way to another offensive board and sank another free throw to seal the win.
“When they rebound as well as they do, that ball seems to find them a lot more than their opponents,” Staley said of the final sequence. “I thought we were in there. We tried to box out, I thought we were very aware of where people were on the floor. I think some of them were bad bounces.”
Those bounces left the Gamecocks ruing what could have been after a brilliant start to the game that included a 10-0 run to end the first quarter and a 10-point lead in the second, as Harris and Herbert Harrigan led the way with 20 and 13 points, respectively.
In the first half, USC forced McCowan to the bench with two fouls and extended its lead to 25-18, but McCowan returned after a short break and was not whistled for another foul the rest of the game.
“He just told me to be smarter and do what an All-American does. They don’t get a third (foul) and they maintain their emotions. And that’s what I did,” McCowan said of Schaefer’s message to her.
Next: The Gamecocks will play in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament in Greenville on Friday at 6 p.m. Their opponent is to be determined
This story was originally published March 3, 2019 at 4:06 PM.
