How South Carolina took down SEC rival Mississippi State in Starkville
Zia Cooke has always played her best when the spotlight is brightest.
So of course, when South Carolina women’s basketball hit the road for an emotional game against its biggest SEC rival in Mississippi State, there was the sophomore guard Cooke, emerging from a mini-shooting slump and tallying a game-high 19 points to lead the No. 4 Gamecocks to a 75-52 victory.
“After watching a couple of film sessions and kind of going over some things on the floor with her, and her utilizing her ability to get to the basket, and just cutting off her rounded drives to the basket,” coach Dawn Staley said. “They were more direct, they were getting into the paint and she got to the free throw line. That’s something that she hasn’t really done over the stretch in which she hasn’t had great shooting nights. And she’s gonna have to mix those things up. And I thought she was really aggressive and under control, which we liked.”
Cooke also led USC with three assists, while junior forward Victaria Saxton added her three career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds to help Staley defeat former former South Carolina assistant and new Mississippi State coach Nikki McCray-Penson.
But perhaps even more impressive was the Gamecocks’ defensive effort — they held the Bulldogs to just 33.8% shooting, well below their season average. Mississippi State helped with a dreadful 5-of-15 performance from the free throw line and 15 turnovers.
“I think we do have a lot to do with what was happening out there, just being disruptive, making sure we were making them work for tough catches and touch shots, contesting shots and just making it hard for them,” Staley said.
South Carolina also cleaned up on the glass with a 57% rebounding rate, turning those boards into 19 second-chance points on offense and converting them into 17 fast-break points off defense.
“They are very good team, talented in every spot,” McCray-Penson said. “But they’re going to do what they do and they did that tonight — they rebounded, they pushed tempo, and that’s what they did.”
3 OBSERVATIONS
1. Second-quarter difference
The first and third quarters were actually fairly even between the two SEC rivals, who have combined to win every conference regular season and tournament title for six years running.
It was the second quarter when the Gamecocks created the separation needed to cruise home — Cooke scored six unanswered points to open the period and start a 12-0 run, and star sophomore forward Aliyah Boston returned after playing just three minutes in the first quarter to add six points and eight rebounds.
2. Bench bounceback
In the Gamecocks’ last two games, they got just 18 combined points from their normally productive bench, leading Dawn Staley to call for her reserves to step up and produce more. Specifically, she wanted sophomore forward Laeticia Amihere to help out senior guard LeLe Grissett on the second unit. They both got going Thursday night, combining to tally 18 points, 12 rebounds and two steals in a solid performance.
“If you look at the stats, you know, they were huge,” Staley said. “I thought they did some things defensively that really just held serve or actually took us to elite.”
3. Rising in the rankings?
The next set of polls from the Associated Press and the coaches won’t come for a few more days, but when they do, the Gamecocks are almost certain to climb after claiming another ranked win — and because No. 2 N.C. State and No. 3 UConn lost Thursday night, to Virginia Tech and Arkansas, respectively.
NEXT USC BASKETBALL GAME
Who: No. 4 South Carolina (13-1, 8-0 SEC) vs. Alabama (12-3, 5-3 SEC)
When: 3 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 31
Where: Colonial Life Arena
Watch: SEC Network
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 8:53 PM.
