10 over the Tigers: Gamecocks cruise past Clemson to keep control of rivalry
South Carolina’s dominance over Clemson in women’s basketball now spans a full decade.
With an 84-48 rout Sunday at Littlejohn Coliseum, the No. 5 Gamecocks have now won 10 in a row against the Tigers, extending the longest win streak in the series by either program.
Dawn Staley’s team did so in large part by exploiting Clemson’s biggest weakness — turnovers. The Tigers entered the game ranked 332nd nationally with 22 turnovers per game and gave the ball away that many times Sunday, leading directly to 23 Gamecock points, as well as 26 on fast breaks.
“We knew we had to come in here and disrupt. We knew we had to come here and apply a lot of pressure and not allow them to get comfortable in their sets,” Staley said. “And I thought we did that for the entire game.”
It was most apparent in the third quarter, when eight Clemson turnovers translated to Gamecock runs of 6-0 and 16-2 to bookend a 23-6 South Carolina advantage in the period, blowing the game wide open.
“We played bad. When you play bad against a good team, you’re going to get beat bad,” Clemson coach Amanda Butler said.
Six South Carolina players wound up scoring in double figures, led by senior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan and freshman forward Aliyah Boston with 13 each. Clemson, meanwhile, was led by senior forward Kobi Thornton, who posted a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, but she picked up four fouls early in the third quarter and was limited throughout the second half.
“I thought (Herbert Harrigan) was really, really great out there today,” Staley said. “She was the senior that we needed, and she just imposed her will. When we needed a bucket, she got a bucket. When we needed a stop, she drew a foul on one of their top players.”
On four different occasions, Butler tried to slow bursts from South Carolina’s offense with strategic timeouts, and the stoppages did seem to throw the Gamecocks’ rhythm off for small stretches.
But the fast-paced USC attack, combined with a poor shooting performance from the Tigers, kept the game from ever really being competitive — a 9-2 run to start the game meant South Carolina never trailed. A flurry of timely second-half 3-pointers pushed the final margin of victory to 36 points, South Carolina’s second largest in the series and biggest away from home.
“Playing great defense is always a part of our game plan,” Herbert Harrigan said. “So we did that and it led to easy fast break points for us.”
And one: Sophomore guard Destanni Henderson continues to make an impact off the bench for South Carolina, finishing with 10 points for her third consecutive game in double digits.
Personal foul: Less than two minutes into the game, Aliyah Boston went up for a layup under the basket, contested by Clemson’s Tylar Bennett and Kobi Thornton. She missed the shot and stayed on that end of the floor as Clemson got the ball. She immediately came out of game with a knocked out contact and missed more than five minutes before returning.
Tip-in: Brea Beal made an impact early in the season for South Carolina, but she did so without being very effective scoring — she was just 1-for-15 from the field in her first three games. She scored a career high 11 points Sunday and is 10-for-17 from the field over the last three games.
NEXT
Who: No. 5 South Carolina (6-0) vs. No. 18 Indiana (4-0)
When: 8 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 28
Where: Sports and Fitness Center, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands
Watch: Streaming on FloHoops.com (subscription required)
Box score
SOUTH CAROLINA (6-0) Boston 5-7 3-5 13, Herbert Harrigan 5-9 3-5 13, Beal 4-7 0-0 11, Cooke 4-11 1-1 10, Harris 5-10 2-2 12, Amihere 0-3 1-2 1, Saxton 1-3 0-0 2, Wesolek 1-3 0-0 3, Grissett 3-6 0-1 6, Henderson 4-8 0-0 10, Thompson 1-2 0-0 3, Totals 33-69 10-16 84.
CLEMSON (2-4) Robinson 1-5 2-2 4, Bennett 1-3 0-0 2, Hank 2-5 0-0 4, Meertens 1-8 6-6 8, Spray 1-4 0-0 2, Hayes 4-7 0-0 8, Thornton 3-14 4-6 10, Blackstock 0-4 0-0 0, Cotton 0-3 0-0 0, McNeal 2-6 0-0 4, Sticker 2-4 0-0 6, Thomas 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 17-65 12-14 48.
Halftime—South Carolina 42-23. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 8-23 (Herbert Harrigan 0-1, Beal 3-5, Cooke 1-3, Harris 0-3, Amihere 0-1, Wesolek 1-2, Henderson 2-6, Thompson 1-2), Clemson 2-13 (Robinson 0-1, Spray 0-3, Thornton 0-1, Blackstock 0-2, Sticker 2-4, Thomas 0-2). Assists—South Carolina 17 (Harris 4), Clemson 7 (Blackstock 2). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—South Carolina 44 (Herbert Harrigan 9), Clemson 44 (Thornton 10). Total Fouls—South Carolina 16, Clemson 18. Technical Fouls—None. A—2,830.
This story was originally published November 24, 2019 at 3:55 PM.
