South Carolina holds off pesky Temple to give Dawn Staley win in Philly
Dawn Staley’s former team gave her current one fits Saturday, as Temple pushed South Carolina women’s basketball hard on the road before the Gamecocks escaped with a 78-71 win.
With two relatively easy victories the last two years against the Owls, No. 6 USC (9-1) was expected to roll again this season, but Temple made things difficult through three quarters with 3-point shooting, rebounding and physical play to frustrate Carolina, playing its first game since upsetting No. 2 Baylor.
Freshman forward Aliyah Boston, South Carolina’s leading scorer, struggled all game as the Owls sold out to defend her every time she touched the ball. The result was a 4-of-14 shooting for Boston and a relatively even split in points in the paint.
“They packed it in. I mean, they, they put everybody in the paint,” South Carolina assistant coach Fred Chimel said in his postgame radio interview on 107.5 The Game of how the Owls frustrated Boston. “You know, at least one person had a foot in the paint unless they were guarding the ball, and then on the catch, they were throwing two, three people at her, so it’s difficult. And you know, it was a little bit physical down there, a lot of stuff we usually get called didn’t get called.”
Temple also stayed close with South Carolina on the boards, actually out-rebounding USC 50-46 despite a size disadvantage. In the early going, the Gamecocks made up for it with 3-point shooting, scoring their first nine points from long range.
But while shooting 8-of-18 from 3-point territory, South Carolina shot just 19-for-59 on 2-pointers. Temple sophomore guard Marissa Mackins led the Owls with seven points in the first quarter, as Temple took advantage of Carolina’s struggles on shots inside the arc to hang around and trail by only one point after eight minutes of play.
A quick 7-1 run to end the first quarter gave South Carolina a little breathing room, with senior guard Tyasha Harris scoring five points in that stretch. Into the second quarter, the Gamecocks stretched their lead to a high of 12.
Temple steadily worked its way back into the game, however, with Mackins and junior forward Mia Davis powering the offense and scoring in double figures at the half. USC also went cold from the field, hitting just 3 of 10 attempts over the final five minutes of the half, as its lead shrank from 12 points to three at the break, 37-33.
The halftime break didn’t solve South Carolina’s shooting woes, with the Gamecocks missing their first eight shots of the half while Mackins drilled back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Owls a 39-37 lead.
From there, the Gamecocks and Owls went back and forth, trading basket for basket, before entering the fourth quarter with South Carolina ahead 53-49 after a quick 5-0 run.
Early in the fourth quarter, though, Harris took over with six points to fuel a 16-5 burst that put the Gamecocks back up by 15 with less than five minutes to play.
Temple mounted one final run to close within six points after Harris fouled a Temple player shooting a 3-pointer, but she made up for it with a pair of crucial free throws to seal the victory and sank a late 3 to put her at a team-high 21 points for the game.
“Ty had a really big game for us, kind of carried us the majority of the way,” Chimel said on 107.5.
And one: Freshmen Brea Beal and Laeticia Amihere, who are sometimes overshadowed by classmates Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke, both put together strong games, combining for 15 points and 11 rebounds to help pick up the post play a little.
Personal foul: The shooting struggles happen sometimes, but the rebounding problem is more worrisome, as Staley is often fond of saying rebounding is as much of a choice as it is a talent.
Tip-in: Destanni Henderson swiped three steals in the second quarter en route to a career-high five on the day.
NEXT
Who: No. 6 South Carolina (9-1) vs. Purdue (6-2)
When: 2 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 15
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
This story was originally published December 7, 2019 at 4:50 PM.
