No. 1 Gamecocks hold off upset bid from No. 21 Gonzaga to stay perfect
Faced with its first ranked opponent of the new season, South Carolina women’s basketball didn’t romp with the ease it sometime did during last year’s dream season.
But at the end of the day, the result was the same: The No. 1 Gamecocks held off pesky No. 21 Gonzaga, 79-72, on Sunday to sweep a perfect weekend at the Bad Boy Mowers Crossover Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Sunday’s victory was still likely enough to give coach Dawn Staley a little anxiety — and some lessons for her squad moving forward. USC (3-0) led for most of the matchup but were never able to pull away.
The Bulldogs then rallied to take a fourth-quarter lead and were ahead with less than four minutes to play, before a 14-6 run by South Carolina to close the game secured the program’s 29th consecutive win.
“I mean, our players would rather play in these type of games. I myself as a coach would rather coach these type of games because you’re learning new experiences,” Staley said. “This as a different team. You want to see who steps up, you want to see who you can rely on coming off the bench. We checked those boxes, but we got to continue, and we have to connect days and we have to connect good games as we continue down this season.”
3 observations from USC vs Gonzaga
1. Destanni Henderson comes up big late
After tying for the team lead with 19 points on Saturday against South Dakota, junior point guard Destanni Henderson was held in check early Sunday, picking up two fouls in the first half and not scoring at all.
But she came alive in the third quarter when Gonzaga started to rally with good 3-point shooting. Henderson drove for layups, pulled up for a 3-ball of her own and got to the free throw line to tally 12 of the team’s 20 points in the quarter. As the Bulldogs came on in the fourth quarter and took the lead, Henderson provided key buckets late, including a critical three-point play midway through the period and plenty of free throws. She finished the day with a team-high and career-best 23 points and was named tournament MVP.
“I just had to adjust to how the game was going. I couldn’t get myself into foul trouble,” Henderson said. “Once I recognized that, I found it quite easier on offense to just be more aggressive without fouling, and that’s what really helped in the second half.”
2. Defensive woes
After holding South Dakota to 43.3% shooting from the field and 12.5% from 3 on Saturday, the Gamecock defense had a much harder time holding Gonzaga in check on Sunday. The Bulldogs shot 52.7% from the field and 47.4% from 3-point territory.
Those 3-pointers were particularly crucial in the second half as they allowed Gonzaga to hang around in the third quarter despite solid shooting on USC’s part. Then, in the fourth quarter, a pair of makes from long distance put the Gamecocks down in the fourth quarter for the first time this year.
3. Free throws loom large
South Carolina shot just 25 of 41 from the free-throw line on the game, but the Gamecocks were much better down the stretch when they needed to be, going 13 of 20, including 9 for 11 from Henderson.
Gonzaga, meanwhile, went just 5 for 13 for the game. And when sophomore forward Aliyah Boston committed a crucial foul on a 3-point shot with 2:57 to play and South Carolina leading by just one point, Kayleigh Truong missed all three free throws. That sequence seemed to kill her team’s momentum, and South Carolina quickly got some much-needed breathing room.
“We missed some free throws with some fouling. So I think that we, for some reason, stalled out. I think we were a little bit tired, maybe, and it showed in our discipline with the offense,” Gonzaga coach Lisa Fortier said.
NEXT GAME
Who: No. 1 South Carolina (3-0) vs. No. 8 North Carolina State (2-0)
When: 7 p.m. Thursday
Where: Colonial Life Arena, Columbia, South Carolina
Watch: ESPN2
BOX SCORE
SOUTH CAROLINA (3-0)
Boston 3-5 4-6 10, Saxton 3-4 3-4 9, Beal 5-7 2-4 12, Cooke 6-17 3-3 16, Henderson 6-11 10-13 23, Amihere 2-5 2-5 6, Grissett 1-4 0-4 2, Littleton 0-1 1-2 1, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 26-54 25-41 79
GONZAGA (0-1)
LeeAnne Wirth 3-6 1-2 7, Jenn Wirth 7-9 2-4 16, Townsend 6-13 1-2 15, Kayleigh Truong 2-3 0-3 6, Walker 4-7 1-2 13, Kempton 4-8 0-0 8, Virjoghe 0-2 0-0 0, Forsyth 0-0 0-0 0, Kaylynne Truong 0-2 0-0 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Ejim 0-0 0-0 0, Scanlon 3-5 0-0 7, Team 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 29-55 5-13 72
Halftime: South Carolina 38-34. 3-Point Goals: South Carolina 2-5 (Cooke 1-1, Henderson 1-3, Littleton 0-1), Gonzaga 9-19 (Townsend 2-5, Truong 2-3, Walker 4-6, Truong 0-2, Scanlon 1-3). Assists: South Carolina 12 (Cooke 4), Gonzaga 20 (Townsend 7). Fouled Out: Gonzaga Wirth, Kempton. Rebounds: South Carolina 36 (Beal 5-7), Gonzaga 29 (Wirth 3-7). Total Fouls: South Carolina 17, Gonzaga 32. Technical Fouls: None.
This story was originally published November 29, 2020 at 5:03 PM.
