South Carolina storms back to claim top-10 road win over Kentucky
Coming off a three-day pause in team activities because of a COVID-19 scare, South Carolina women’s basketball knew it would have its hands full on the road against Kentucky on Sunday.
And sure enough, the No. 10 Wildcats gave the No. 5 Gamecocks, who were only able to practice once before the contest, a “dogfight,” in the words of coach Dawn Staley.
But behind a monster second half from sophomore forward Aliyah Boston, USC dug deep and gritted out perhaps its toughest win of the year by a score of 75-70.
The Gamecocks certainly needed every bit of Boston’s 20 points, 12 rebounds, seven blocks and three steals to rally from a nine-point halftime deficit. Almost all of that production came in the final 20 minutes after the star second-year player picked up two quick fouls early in the first quarter, forcing her to the bench.
“I definitely need to be more aware of that,” Boston said on ESPN of her early foul trouble. “But third quarter, we knew that we just had to bring it. We had to play how we know how to play. We had to pick up the intensity, because we know Kentucky’s a great team and they weren’t just going to back down.”
Sure enough, Boston played every minute of second half, and South Carolina stormed back. Towards the end of the third quarter, junior guard Destanni Henderson found Boston wide open for a 3-pointer. She drilled the shot, sparking a 21-4 run that extended into the fourth quarter and turned an eight-point deficit into a nine-point lead. Boston and Henderson accounted for all but two of the points in that run.
“We feel like when she’s out there, she makes an impact, whether it was rebounding the basketball or helping control us. ... When Aliyah Boston is able to play Aliyah Boston’s style of basketball, I mean, you see what she’s capable of doing — a near triple-double,” Staley said.
Kentucky didn’t go quietly, though, reeling off a quick 8-0 run of its own to close to within a single point, 71-70, with 1:30 left to play. On the ensuing possession, Boston hit a layup, and the Gamecocks held on.
3 OBSERVATIONS
1. First half blues
With Boston on the bench for the majority of the first half, South Carolina slumped badly. It didn’t help that the team’s leading scorer, sophomore guard Zia Cooke, was also struggling to get going.
Without that duo, the Gamecocks simply could not keep up with Kentucky’s star, junior guard Rhyne Howard. Howard had 11 points in the first quarter alone and hit 19 by halftime to accounted for nearly half her team’s points at the break.
USC was also one-dimensional throughout that first half, with 26 of its points coming in the paint, two at the free throw line and just three coming off a shot from outside the lane.
“You look at the first half, and I just thought we just did not look like we were in sync,” Staley said. “I mean, we didn’t defend well, we made a couple of ill-advised turnovers that led to a lot of easy uncontested layups for them in transition.”
2. Henderson pours it in
While Boston dominated, South Carolina’s leading scorer for the game was actually Henderson, who put up 22 points to complement her 20-point outburst in USC’s last contest. Like Boston, Henderson also saved most of her production for the second half, tallying 14 points down the stretch, and outdueled her counterpart, senior guard Chastity Patterson, who finished with 12 total points.
“Destanni Henderson, I mean she pushed that ball,” Staley said. “I think Chastity Patterson is really quick. And I was kind of seeing quickness on quickness with Henderson. I thought (Henderson) just came out and just gave us a lift and pushed that tempo. And I think she’s come into her own, when it comes to that tempo and getting us some easy baskets.”
3. Attitude adjustment
Staley didn’t get into the specifics of what she said to change South Carolina’s mindset at halftime — there were a lot of words she would need to censor, she joked. But she did put a lot of emphasis on reducing turnovers and being more aggressive on defense.
Sure enough, the Gamecocks went from 12 turnovers in the first half to just six in the second. And on defense, they held the Wildcats to 30.6% from the field in the second half after letting them go for 44.7% in the first.
NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME
Who: No. 5 South Carolina (8-1) vs. Vanderbilt (4-2)
When: 8 p.m. Thursday
Where: Nashville, Tennessee
Watch: Streaming online on SEC Network Plus via WatchESPN
This story was originally published January 10, 2021 at 6:58 PM.
