Tyasha Harris steps up to ‘control everything’ in South Carolina’s win over UConn
The plan wasn’t for Tyasha Harris to play all 40 minutes.
As the South Carolina women’s basketball team led national powerhouse UConn wire-to-wire on Monday night at Colonial Life Arena, coach Dawn Staley kept looking for opportunities to get her star point guard a breather.
“When she looked at me, she was like, ‘Don’t take me out.’ And like a good coach, I didn’t take her out,” Staley said. “She looked comfortable. She looked like she wanted to be in control of the game for 40 minutes.”
Harris’ final stat line backed that up — 19 points, 11 assists, 4 rebounds, 1 steal and no turnovers. She scored or assisted on 69% of South Carolina’s field goals in the Gamecocks’ 70-52 win.
“I was feeling it, and I just felt like I needed to be in the game to control everything,” Harris said.
Controlling everything is what has made Harris so key for Staley. The consummate point guard, Harris has orchestrated Staley’s team on the court for four seasons now. And while she occasionally makes mistakes when she gets tired, Staley said, Monday was different.
“She never tired today. So I would say, overall, this was probably her most complete game, statistically and mentally,” Staley said.
Harris saved her best for one of the biggest stages possible — with 18,000 fans and several WNBA scouts watching, she was all over the floor, scoring six first-quarter points as the rest of the offense scuffled, then balancing key pull-up jumpers with crisp passing in the late going.
It was yet another balanced performance in a senior season full of them. In four previous meetings with UConn, Harris had averaged 5.75 points, 3 assists and 2.5 turnovers — all USC losses. This time, she steadied her teammates whenever Connecticut looked to be getting back into the game and led them to a historic win.
“I think Ty is a great leader. I look up to her, and I think she does a great job of keeping us composed,” freshman forward Aliyah Boston said. “Even when they kind of had their little run, she was just telling us to stay focused, and she just kept on encouraging us.”
In the aftermath, Staley was vocal in her belief that Harris deserves a shot to keep doing that at the next level.
“If you look at the mock drafts, they don’t even have her talked about as being a first-rounder in the WNBA. You gotta be kidding me. You got to be kidding me. So if other people aren’t going to write the narrative, then I have to say it, because she’s showing everybody around the country what she’s made of.”
It’s not the first time Staley has called Harris is underrated, but more and more recognition is starting to come the senior’s way — she picked up her first SEC Player of the Week honor earlier this season and on Monday was named to the top 10 watch list for the Nancy Lieberman Award, given to the nation’s top point guard.
More awards could follow: The preseason SEC player of the year, Texas A&M’s Chennedy Carter, has missed significant time with injury, as have other top players like Kentucky’s Rhyne Howard and LSU’s Ayana Mitchell. Harris’ scoring totals don’t put her at the top of the conference, but she leads the league in assists and has run point for the league’s best team thus far. And Staley reiterated Monday that she’ll continue to champion her senior.
“Ty, you know, she’s going to continue to do what she does. She’s not one that’s going to boast and brag about her. But when I feel like the narrative isn’t given her her just due, that’s when we have to speak up,” Staley said.
When do the Gamecocks play next?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (23-1, 10-0 SEC) vs. Auburn (8-13, 2-8 SEC)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area
South Carolina UConn basketball box score
CONNECTICUT (20-3) — Nelson-Ododa 5-12 0-2 10, Walker 5-11 0-0 10, Dangerfield 10-19 4-4 28, Makurat 0-5 0-0 0, Williams 1-11 0-0 2, Griffin 1-3 0-0 2, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 22-61 4-6 52
SOUTH CAROLINA (23-1) — Boston 6-14 0-0 13, Herbert Harrigan 4-11 0-0 10, Beal 2-4 0-2 5, Cooke 5-14 4-6 15, Harris 9-19 0-0 19, Saxton 0-0 0-0 0, Grissett 1-1 0-0 2, Henderson 2-3 0-0 6, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 29-66 4-8 70
Halftime—South Carolina 35, UConn 23. 3-Point Goals—UConn 4-17 (Nelson-Ododa 0-1, Walker 0-4, Dangerfield 4-8, Makurat 0-3, Williams 0-1), South Carolina 8-22 (Boston 1-5, Herbert Harrigan 2-5, Beal 1-3, Cooke 1-3, Harris 1-4, Henderson 2-2). Assists—UConn 12 (Nelson-Ododa 4), South Carolina 14 (Harris 11). Fouled Out—UConn Nelson-Ododa. Rebounds—UConn 40 (Nelson-Ododa 7-9), South Carolina 38 (Boston 6-12). Total Fouls—UConn 11, South Carolina 4. Technical Fouls—None. A—18,000.
This story was originally published February 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
