No. 1 South Carolina breezes by Georgia in border battle
For all of about 30 seconds, No. 1 South Carolina women’s basketball’s perfect SEC start looked to be in any danger against Georgia on Sunday.
Then the Gamecocks got going in front of a friendly crowd full of fans and cruised to an easy 88-53 victory.
The Lady Bulldogs’ only lead of the day came off an early layup from redshirt junior center Jenna Staiti. From there, USC senior guard Tyasha Harris responded by drilling a 3-pointer from the corner to put South Carolina ahead, kicking off a 14-0 run in which USC forced seven consecutive misses and three turnovers from Georgia.
“Just our ability to rebound and push the ball down the floor,” coach Dawn Staley said of the key to that early run. “I think any time you have someone like Ty who’s your floor general leading the charge, she puts you in a really good position. She’s calling her own number, she’s putting people in positions to be effective on the offensive side of the ball. That helped kind of open up the game, and we just took over from there.”
Harris scored 13 points for the game, including nine in that first quarter push, one of five USC players in double figures. She also made some history with a pass to freshman forward Aliyah Boston in the third quarter, tying former Gamecock Cristina Ciocan for the program’s all-time assists record. She passed Ciocan a few possessions later with an assist to senior forward Mikiah Herbert-Harrigan.
Georgia, meanwhile, shot just 23% from the field in the first quarter and turned the ball over seven times, all on Carolina steals, as the defensive pressure turned into 14 fast-break points.
“We like to (have) our defense turn into offense. We get on a run, that’s what we do. We like transition offense and try to get easy baskets,” Harris said.
With Harris and Herbert-Harrigan on the bench to start the second quarter, Georgia was briefly able to battle back with 10-4 run over three minutes.
Throughout the quarter, Georgia briefly recovered from its poor shooting start to hit more than half its shots and outscore the Gamecocks over the second 10 minutes but still trailed 47-30 at halftime. But when USC’s seniors returned to the floor, the Gamecock offense stabilized and took a 47-30 lead into halftime.
That lead grew to 26 points in the third quarter, as freshman guard Zia Cooke kicked off a stretch of seven consecutive makes from the field for the Gamecocks with an acrobatic layup through contact.
But Harris picked up her third foul with just over one minute remaining in the quarter, and with her and Herbert-Harrigan on the bench again, Georgia sank back-to-back 3-pointers as part of a 10-2 run to cut Carolina’s advantage below 20 again.
Over the final 10 minutes, USC’s second unit locked down on defense to hold Georgia to just six points and push the Gamecocks their eight road win on the season.
“Our bench hasn’t really been as sharp as it normally is,” Staley said. “And I thought they ended the game extremely well. This is something that really we can watch a lot of film on and kind of boost their confidence up. Because we usually ... have gotten our lead cut into in the second quarter and then the third quarter and then the fourth quarter.
“They found holes in our defense and picked us apart. Offensively, we struggled. We couldn’t put it together for four quarters an offensive game plan. They were really good defensively today,” Georgia coach Joni Taylor said.
And one
Harris now has 617 career assists in 126 games, averaging 4.9 per game. She is one of only two Gamecocks to have 1,000 career points and 600 career assists and is now eight points away from 1,200 points in her career.
Personal foul
South Carolina’s bench had only six points against Mississippi State and was more productive tonight, but while all the starters except Cooke were +30 or above in plus/minus, none of the reserves cracked +6.
Tip-in
Sophomore forward Victaria Saxton played after injuring her ankle against Mississippi State, and in front of a large cheering section from her hometown of Rome, Georgia, recorded six points and three rebounds.
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (19-1, 7-0 SEC) vs. Ole Miss (7-12, 0-6 SEC)
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: The Pavilion at Ole Miss, Oxford, Mississippi
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
Listen: 1320 AM/107.5 FM in Columbia area
South Carolina Georgia basketball box score
SOUTH CAROLINA (19-1)—Boston 6-8 3-4 15, Herbert Harrigan 5-5 0-0 10, Beal 3-7 0-1 7, Cooke 2-6 5-7 9, Harris 6-10 0-0 13, Amihere 1-2 1-4 3, Saxton 3-6 0-0 6, Wesolek 0-0 0-0 0, Grissett 4-4 3-3 11, Henderson 5-9 4-6 14, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Totals 35-58 16-25 88
GEORGIA (12-8)—Paul 6-14 0-0 13, Staiti 2-5 0-0 4, Caldwell 2-8 0-0 5, Connally 4-14 0-0 11, Morrison 2-7 1-1 5, Bates 1-4 1-2 3, Isaacs 0-3 0-0 0, Nicholson 1-2 0-0 2, Chapman 1-1 0-0 2, Jones 3-10 2-2 8, Totals 22-68 4-5 53
Halftime-South Carolina 47-30. 3-Point Goals—South Carolina 2-3 (Beal 1-1, Harris 1-1, Thompson 0-1), Georgia 5-16 (Paul 1-2, Caldwell 1-3, Connally 3-8, Jones 0-3). Assists—South Carolina 19 (Harris 7), Georgia 11 (Connally 9). Fouled Out—Georgia Morrison, Bates. Rebounds—South Carolina 42 (Grissett 2-3), Georgia 32 (Paul 3-5). Total Fouls—South Carolina 13, Georgia 18. Technical Fouls—None. A—6,047.
This story was originally published January 26, 2020 at 4:47 PM.
