South Carolina women withstand top-10 test, topple Mississippi State
The latest chapter of the SEC’s most important rivalry did not disappoint Monday, as No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball and Mississippi State went all the way to the bitter end, with the Gamecocks surviving for a thrilling 81-79 win.
After leading by as many as 12 points in the early going, USC (18-1, 6-0 SEC) trailed by nine in the fourth quarter, as the Bulldogs attacked the basket with dribble drives Carolina struggled to defend.
But after a sluggish offensive start to the quarter, the Gamecocks made a concerted effort to pound the ball inside. Freshman forward Aliyah Boston reeled off seven consecutive points, closing the gap to 73-71, and freshman guard Zia Cooke sank a layup through contact to draw the foul, putting USC back ahead 74-73. From there, the two teams went back and forth with five lead changes in the final five minutes.
“I was just waiting for for something to happen: a big play a big 3, a big steal, a big stop. And, you know, you can look in their eyes and see that they were very much in the game, no matter what the score was,” coach Dawn Staley said. “We found ourselves down nine points, called the timeout and everybody was really positive in that timeout. So I’m like, ‘Oh we got we got a shot. We got shot to come back because they believe.’”
With 2:45 to play and MSU ahead 79-76, senior guard Tyasha Harris came up with a steal and score, than sank another basket on the next possession to give USC a one-point lead. Mississippi State missed four consecutive shot attempts down the stretch, including one with less than 20 seconds to play.
“Defensively, we started letting them catch and not denying. I know I let my girl catch, and she drove and scored,” Mingo-Young said of South Carolina’s comeback. “You know, they started getting offensive rebounds and pushing transition. That’s really what happened.
A hard foul with eight seconds left put Harris on the free throw line, and she made one of two to put USC up 81-79.
“She’s a difference maker,” Staley said of her senior point guard. “When you have both teams who are playing young players, inexperienced players, you want your most experienced players rising to the challenge and doing the things that Ty did.”
With a foul to give, USC was able to force Mississippi State to inbound the ball from its own baseline. Cooke then skied to steal the pass and dribbled out the clock.
“It took me back to football, actually, with just moving my feet, and I kind of knew where she wanted to go with the ball, and once I heard her say, ‘Lob it up,’ I just had to go get it,” Cooke said.
Boston recorded a double-double with 21 points and 12 rebounds, Cooke added 13 and 6, and Harris had a team-high 23 points and seven assists.
In addition to her late-game heroics, Harris was crucial in the first quarter, scoring or assisting on 20 of South Carolina’s 22 points, slicing through Mississippi State’s defense to either find wide-open teammates or finish through contact. She also sank a 3-pointer just before the end of the first quarter to give USC a 22-13 lead.
After struggling early, Mississippi State got hot from the field in the second quarter, led by nine points from star freshman Rickea Jackson.
The Gamecocks, however, were able to get the Bulldogs’ bigs into foul trouble, and Boston got going after a quiet first quarter with six points of her own. Senior forward Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan put up seven, including five free throws, to surpass 1,000 career points.
The contact Herbert-Harrigan fought through was the start an increasingly physical quarter, putting both teams on the free throw line numerous times. While most of USC’s trips came earlier in the period, the Bulldogs got there more frequently at the end. That, combined with some late misses for the Gamecocks, allowed Mississippi State to close on a 21-10 run, trailing by just one point at the half.
After the halftime break, both teams traded runs in the third quarter, with Mississippi State relying on reserve freshman guards Aliyah Matharu and JaMya Mingo-Young to penetrate inside on dribble drives, with South Carolina fed Boston inside. A late 7-2 surge gave MSU a three-point lead heading into the fourth quarter, setting up the wild finish.
“I think it was just the way that they penetrated with the ball. I was there on some occasions, but I picked up a couple fouls early on, and they also have a really big post player that they could lob it to, so I was trying to play equal sides,” Boston said of how MSU was able to attack inside so successfully.
WHEN DO THE GAMECOCKS PLAY NEXT?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (18-1, 6-0 SEC) vs. Georgia (11-7, 2-3 SEC)
When: 3 p.m. Sunday
Where: Stegeman Coliseum, Athens, Georgia
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
This story was originally published January 20, 2020 at 9:02 PM.
