Zia Cooke shines in homecoming as South Carolina routs Dayton
Back in her home state Wednesday night, freshman Zia Cooke had plenty of fans in the stands and the best game of her young career on the floor, as South Carolina women’s basketball cruised to a 75-49 win over Dayton.
With 27 points and seven rebounds, five of them offensive, Cooke was all over the place for the No. 6 Gamecocks (3-0), in front of roughly 100 family and friends who drove down from her home town of Toledo to see her play.
It did take her a little while to get going, starting off with a pair of misses and a turnover. USC still got off to a strong start though, thanks to fellow star rookie Aliyah Boston, who had five points, a block and a steal within the game’s first four minutes.
But when senior point guard Tyasha Harris picked up two quick fouls, Cooke stayed on the floor and began to heat up, getting on the board with a layup with less than five minutes to play in the first quarter, then exploding with a pair of 3-pointers and some strong play on the offensive glass for 10 points and three rebounds after 10 minutes.
Cooke’s hot streak coincided with an 18-1 from South Carolina to completely seize control of the game. While the Gamecocks actually missed opportunities to extend that run even further, with 50% free throw shooting and five turnovers, Dayton’s offense was ice cold — the Flyers made just two of 15 field goal attempts and even missed three of four free throws.
Into the second quarter, USC continued to pull away with a 17-7 run, led by six points from sophomore forward Victaria Saxton, while Dayton continued to miss almost everything — at one point, the Flyers had made just four of 30 attempts from the field.
With three and a half minutes left before the half, though, Dayton got a quick 8-2 run to narrow the gap to 41-21 at the break, with Carolina turning the ball over five times in that stretch. But after the half, Saxton and Cooke continued to keep the Gamecocks comfortably ahead, with Saxton finishing with 13 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Boston and senior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan joined Cooke and Saxton in double figures in the fourth quarter as the Gamecocks cruised to their eighth 3-0 start of the decade.
And one: Dayton got enough shots to fall in the fourth quarter to get above 20% on the game, but the Gamecock defense has still held its opponents to 24.6% shooting on the season.
Personal foul: USC finished with 17 turnovers against 17 assists, and after relying on good free throw shooting to beat Maryland, shot just 14-of-24 from the charity stripe.
Tip-in: Foul trouble became such an issue that little-used players Elysa Wesolek and and Olivia Thompson made first half appearances. They returned late in the fourth quarter.
NEXT
Who: No. 6 South Carolina vs. Appalachian State
When: 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 17
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
