Upset in Paradise! Dawn Staley’s Gamecocks knock off defending champ Baylor
South Carolina women’s basketball finished its Thanksgiving weekend on a high note, picked up another top-five win and exacted some revenge on the team that knocked it out of last year’s NCAA tournament all in one fell swoop Saturday night, defeating No. 2 Baylor 74-59.
With their lead cut to two points with 5:57 left in the fourth quarter of the Paradise Jam finale in the U.S. Virgin Islands, the No. 5 Gamecocks responded with a 15-2 surge down the stretch to secure the win. Baylor didn’t score for the game’s final 3:40.
“I’m feeling great for our team,” coach Dawn Staley said on the FloHoops broadcast afterward. “We lost a game on Thursday, we didn’t play to the best of our capabilities. ... We got stronger as the tournament went on.”
Freshman forward Aliyah Boston, playing in front of a raucous crowd in her hometown of St. Thomas, recorded a double-double with 20 points and 13 rebounds, including six points in that crucial final stretch and two blocks, while senior point guard Tyasha Harris added 20 points of her own to go with seven assists and four rebounds.
The Lady Bears had the early momentum, getting off to an 8-2 start and pushing inside as the Gamecock posts looked to avoid foul trouble. But Harris chipped in seven early points in a 9-2 USC run to keep things close.
Then, in the final two minutes of the quarter, South Carolina surged into the lead with 6-0 run highlighted by a 3-pointer from sophomore guard Destanni Henderson. Carolina rode that momentum into the second quarter, getting baskets from five different players while playing better defense, forcing three turnovers in a 10-2 spurt to go up 32-21.
That forced a timeout from Baylor, who regrouped and worked its way back into the game, aided by a number of offensive fouls and turnovers for South Carolina and fast break opportunities off long rebounds. Led by NaLyssa Smith, the Lady Bears narrowed the halftime deficit to 38-35, leading both fast break and second chance points.
After the break, however, things slowed down as whistles became more frequent — Boston picked up three fouls in the span of just six minutes, and freshman guard Zia Cooke picked up her fourth, with neither team getting much in the way of transition offense.
Harris kept up her offensive outburst with a 3-pointer, but Baylor kept things tight. Sophomore Queen Egbo, who sat out most of the first half with foul trouble, returned and added four points to cut the lead to one, before a pair of USC free throws put the advantage back at 51-48 heading into the fourth quarter, setting up the final surge for the Gamecocks and redeeming their loss on Thursday to No. 17 Indiana.
Former Gamecock Te’a Cooper, who joined the Bears as a grad transfer this offseason, scored 10 points on 3-for-13 shooting. She had four rebounds, three assists and six turnovers.
NEXT
Who: South Carolina vs. Temple
When: 3 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 7
Where: McGonigle Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Watch: OwlsTV
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 9:44 PM.
