South Carolina dominates Georgia inside to open SEC tournament with big win
In the first half Friday of its SEC tournament opener against Georgia, the South Carolina women’s basketball team was playing “jittery,” in the words of coach Dawn Staley.
Even so, the No. 1 seeded Gamecocks led by 14 at halftime. And they only got better from there, pulling away for an easy 89-56 win over the Bulldogs to erase any lingering memories of last year’s early tourney exit that snapped a four-year title streak.
Dominance inside was key to the victory — 58 of South Carolina’s points came in the paint, and the Gamecocks pulled down 12 offensive rebounds to 18 defensive ones for Georgia, a 40% rate. Senior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan scored a team-high 16 points and freshman forward Aliyah Boston had nine points and 10 rebounds.
In the early going, though, Georgia redshirt junior center Jenna Staiti was able to provide a spark inside for her squad, scoring 11 of their 15 first-quarter points. Meanwhile, South Carolina struggled with turnovers, giving the ball away five times in the first five minutes.
“I thought we were a little jittery at the beginning of the game,” Staley said. “We had some uncharacteristic turnovers. But then our bigs came in and gave us some energy, some points, some defensive stops, and when you have a team such as we have, you come to expect that something like that can happen for us.”
Senior guard Tyasha Harris, who entered the game averaging two turnovers per game, had three in that time and ended the day with four, but none in the second half.
“Me and Kiki weren’t on the same page,” Harris said of the reason for the early mistakes. “But we talked about it. We talked about it a lot. I don’t like turning over the ball, so I try to make sure that I keep that down, and after I got my fourth one, I was like, ‘I’m not getting no more.’”
Georgia was unable to fully take advantage of South Carolina’s early mistakes, as the Bulldogs turned the ball over 10 times in the first quarter. Three of those turnovers came in the final minute of the quarter, as South Carolina’s bench players came in and wreaked havoc for a quick 7-0 blitz to give USC some breathing room.
The offensive momentum didn’t carry over to start the second quarter, as the Gamecocks missed four of their first five attempts from the field, and Georgia rallied to trim the deficit to seven points. USC responded with another quick spurt, this time tallying a 10-0 run in less than two minutes and taking a 45-31 lead into the break. Six of those points came in the paint.
“That was the goal. Coach really emphasizes scoring inside the paint, and I just think we did a really great job of that,” Boston said.
Offense again took a backseat in the early third quarter, with no field goals for the first five minutes, but the Gamecocks kept their lead from shinking by getting to the free throw line and continually frustrating Georgia’s offense with steals and blocks — the Bulldogs shot 28% from the field in the quarter.
And when senior forward Mikiah Herbert Harrigan sank a layup with 4:44 left in the quarter, the floodgates opened once more for South Carolina. The Gamecocks made seven of their next eight shots and shot ahead by more than 20 points.
“Take a deep breath, it’s all good,” freshman guard Brea Beal said of Staley’s message midway through the third quarter to get the offense going. “We have those roller coaster bumps, like in the beginning of this game. We’re gonna go on a run, they’re gonna go on a run, so it was just kind of like one of those talks. And make sure we execute on offense and lock down on defense.”
From there, the Gamecocks cruised into the semifinals, holding Georgia to 33.3% shooting in the fourth quarter while shooting 64.7% themselves. Herbert Harrigan and Harris led the team with 16 and 15 points, respectively, while three other USC players scored in double figures.
When do the Gamecocks play at SEC tournament?
Who: No. 1 South Carolina vs. No. 5 Arkansas
What: Semifinals of the SEC tournament
When: 5 p.m. Saturday
Where: Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Greenville, South Carolina
Watch: SEC Network
Listen: 107.5 FM in Columbia area, SEC Radio on SiriusXM
South Carolina vs. Georgia box score
GEORGIA (17-14)—Paul 1-5 0-0 2, Staiti 6-15 2-2 16, Caldwell 2-4 1-2 7, Chapman 2-8 0-0 4, Connally 4-10 0-0 10, Bates 1-5 0-0 2, Isaacs 2-3 0-0 4, Nicholson 1-3 0-0 2, Henderson 0-0 0-0 0, Hose 4-7 0-0 9, Hubbard 0-2 0-0 0, Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 23-63 3-4 56
SOUTH CAROLINA (30-1)—Boston 4-8 1-1 9, Herbert Harrigan 6-10 4-4 16, Beal 2-5 3-4 7, Cooke 0-2 2-2 2, Harris 5-8 4-4 15, Amihere 3-7 1-2 7, Saxton 5-6 1-2 11, Wesolek 0-1 0-0 0, Grissett 6-6 0-1 12, Henderson 5-10 0-0 10, Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 36-64 16-20 89
Halftime—South Carolina 45-31. 3-Point Goals—Georgia 7-17 (Staiti 2-4, Caldwell 2-3, Connally 2-6, Hose 1-4), South Carolina 1-7 (Boston 0-1, Cooke 0-1, Harris 1-3, Henderson 0-1, Thompson 0-1). Assists—Georgia 16 (Caldwell 5), South Carolina 19 (Henderson 7). Fouled Out—None. Rebounds—Georgia 30 (Isaacs 3-3), South Carolina 40 (Beal 4-5). Total Fouls—Georgia 15, South Carolina 9. Technical Fouls—None. A—0.
This story was originally published March 6, 2020 at 1:44 PM.
